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A 



NARRATIVE 



EXCURSIONS, VOYAGES, AND TRAVELS, 



PEBFORMED AT DIFFERENT PERIODS 



IN AMERICA, EUROPE, ASIA, AND AFRICA 



GEORGE^APELJE, ESa. 



" I was born and educated in the new world, but from earliest life panted to visit the old, 
to gaze on the monuments of ancient days, and to meditate over the graves of departed 
nations." — Ledyard's Letter. 



NEW-YORK: 
PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR BY WEST & TROW 




1834. 



Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1834, by Geobge 
Rapelje, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of 
New-York. 



J^':^ 



^ 



-> 




mmmi mAiPi^n.^Tifn 



REM RAPEL JE ; 

Whose precepts for the guidance of my youth were wholesome 
and wise ; whose example for my imitation was worthy of all 
praise ; a man who accumulated wealth by industry and eco- 
nomy, and expended it with a generous and open hand ; who, 
in evil times, escaped from harm, by wisdom and prudence, and 
sustained his integrity of principle by firmness of purpose ; who 
was a good citizen, always ready to support an honest govern- 
ment, to vindicate its dignity and honor ; who was a kind father, 
administering liberally to the wants and wishes of his children ; 
a philanthropist to whom the poor never cried for bread in 
vain ; one who lived in peace with all mankind, when permitted 
so to do ; unambitious of political honors or popular favor, and 
what is of a higher fame, and of sweeter remembrance to his 
descendants, a Christian, who died in the hopes of the resur- 
rection of the just to immortal life — this honest narrative of his 
"oft wandering son" is filially and reverently inscribed. 

G. R. 



PREFACE 



My objects in travelling, were to find amusement, and to gain 
health and information ; but at the time I was wandering over 
Europe and Asia, little did I think of ever becoming an author; 
but in order to preserve some passages of my life, I have at length 
thought proper to send my journal to the press. It has been 
printed on my own account and risk, and, of course, no bookseller 
could say to me, enlarge this, soften that, and entirely obliterate 
this page, as it may be Ihjurious to the sale of the work. It is 
therefore given in the spirit of independence. I have the vanity 
to think that there are some peculiarities in my journal, for I went 
not out with the spirit of virtu, or to find wonders where they did 
not exist, nor to give classical descriptions and illustrations of those 
curiosities which have engaged the attention of travellers for ages. 
I cannot boast of having spent my days in copying half obliterated 
inscriptions on the walls of ruined temples, and of busying myself 
in supplying that by conjecture which has been lost by decay. I 
have taken no impression of hieroglyphics from pillars or pyra- 
mids, nor wasted my time in attempting to form a key to unlock 
these supposed mysterious treasures of knowledge. Those who 
had gone before me have attempted all this, for they went out for 
fame or pecuniary i-ecompense. These savans and literati have 



b PREFACE. 

frequently thrown a spell around a subject which did not intrinsi- 
cally belong to it. I have traversed the same fields, without any 
pretensions to deep learning or extraordinary investigation, but 
have gone onward, with, I trust, a share of common sense and 
common honesty. The things which I have seen I have described 
in my own way, without poring over learned tomes to settle agi- 
tated questions by comparisons or weight of authorities. My 
opinions have been formed from a direct eye-sight and an unbiased 
understanding, and as such I have given them, without a disposi- 
tion to depreciate any country, or to degrade any particular race 
of men : sometimes I may have been severe in my remarks, but I 
think facts will support my observations. When I made my first 
visit to England, the old fashioned doctrine of the balance of power 
among nations, had nearly been destroyed by the two great belli- 
gerents. Great Britain and France, but on my second, it was evident 
that the Holy Alliance had chained nations to the car of peace, 
which gave the traveller new advantages. The struggle of the 
Greeks seemed the only exception in the civilized world, save a 
few provincial feuds in South America. 

The great nations of Europe will at all times have a command- 
ing influence on the affairs of nations and will long hold it, parti- 
cularly, over the Levant, once, the greatest theatre of human 
action. Half the mighty battles of past ages by land and sea have 
been fought there. This region, and the farthest East, in my 
opinion, are destined, in the process of ages, to be governed entirely 
by European nations. The Asiatics have no elements of recupe- 
rative power in their institutions, although they are among the 
bravest of the human race. 

In travelling over these countries whose sun of glory has set for 
ages, perhaps forever, or those on the decline, one of a philosophi- 



PREFACE. 7 

cal turn of mind cannot refrain from indulging the belief that there 
is, by the maker of the whole, a connection or resemblance 
between the natural and political worlds. It is a perpetual law 
of the physical world that when a ray of light leaves one spot on 
earth that it beams on another, making the light and shades for- 
ever changing, and forever equal ; so in the political and moral, 
when one country sinks in darkness, another arises into day. The 
Eastern sun was shorn of its beams before that of science arose in 
the Western Hemisphere. Rome had declined and fallen before 
Venice sprung up from the hundred islands of the Adriatic, and 
Venice, in turn, had lost the traffic of the East before Britain 
assumed it, and Spain began to sink when her South American 
colonies began to flourish. These are subjects for the traveller's 
consideration. 

A citizen in a republic like ours views every' subject with a 
freshness, and with a desire to be informed, and at the same time 
with a spirit of independence. He finds in the decayed and decay- 
ing portions of the old world, much from their gone-by institutions to 
reason upon and to profit by, in establishing those of the new. Com- 
misseration is felt for the past, as well as honor and respect, but 
hope and belief peculiarly belong to the future. I will now come 
down to more particular reasons for publishing this volume. One 
is, that I wished to preserve for myself the impressions which were 
made upon my mind in the course of my travels, by whatever I 
had seen and examined ; another, that I might give to my friends 
some correct views of my travels ; and above all, that I might 
leave on record some proofs of my attachment to the institutions 
of my country. My property is in the land of my ancestors and 
of my birth, and its value must be calculated by the prospects of 
the country. On the score of modesty. I have not any scruples 



8 



PREFACE. 



in ushering my views and opinions to the world, when I find every 
Enghshman who had travelled over my country in stages, steam 
or canal boats, or otherwise, has given an account of us with great 
positiveness ; a man who probably came without letters or means 
of introduction to any one. Such travellers talk wisely of the ha- 
bits, manners, customs, and propensities of the people of the United 
States, knowing no more of us than the bird who emigrates from 
south to north or from north to south every season. The opinions 
of travellers should be modest, and when they are so, are benefi- 
cial to the great family of mankind, of whatever cast they may be. 
Those who visit the old world have ten thousand partialities for 
past times, while he who comes to examine a new one has as 
many prejudices in his mind to overcome. To my own country, 
men I say, cherish your own institutions, and look upon those of 
others in candor and justice. 

G. R. 



RAPELJE'S NARRATIVE. 



I THINK it quite proper that every man who 
attempts to give his travels to the public, should 
also give some account of himself, to assist the 
reader in putting a true estimate on the capacity 
and veracity of the writer ; for there are those 
who may have an interest in falsely coloring 
whatever they present, and there are others so 
situated, as to tell the truth honestly, without any 
partiality or prejudice. I rank myself among the 
latter class, but the public are the judges. I want 
no man's favor ; I ask for no office, pension, or 
place; still, as my work is to come before the 
world, I shall indulge myself in giving a few 
particulars of my life. 

I was born on the 9th of August, 1771, in a 
three story brick house, on the north side of 
Liberty-street, at that time called Crown-street; 
the house was a few doors from the corner of 
William-street. My father's name was Rem Ra- 
pelje, and at that time, before business was so 
distinctly divided as it now is, was a ship owner, 
dealt in general merchandise, and kept a store in 
Maiden-lane, directly in rear of his dwelling- 
2 



10 rapelje's narrative. 

house. He was a native of Brooklyn, Long- 
Island. He lost his father when a child, and his 
mother having contracted a second marriage, he 
felt all the chilling influence of a step-father, and 
sought for friendly aid elsewhere. He fortunately 
had an uncle, in the corn, grain, and flour business, 
a thrifty, intelligent man, wlio took him into his 
store, which was at the fork of Maiden-lane 
and Crown-street. Here, after a few years of 
industrious labor, during which he supported the 
character of an intelligent, honest young man, 
he was sent in a schooner, as supercargo, to the 
island of Curacoa, in the West Indies, and al- 
though but twenty-one years of age, had other 
vessels consigned to him. His personal appear- 
ance, his honesty, his amenity of manners, as well 
as his intelligence, made him a popular young 
man. 

The family of Rapelje was originally from 
France. Being Protestant, they fled to Holland, 
after the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, and were 
among the early emigrants to New-Amsterdam. 
One of the family was a land surveyor, and the 
other a farmer. The name is mentioned in the 
first accounts of the city, as one of the burgomas- 
ters in the good old days of admiral, governor 
Stuyvcsant. The first child born of Cliristian 
parents in tlic city of New- Amsterdam was named 
Sarah Do Rajielje. This account is now pre- 
served as a curio.sity. As they came from the 



rapelje's narrative. n 

river Wall, in Holland, and held lands on Long 
Island, tliey called the small stream near their 
dwelling '' the Wallahout." The descendants 
of these first settlers are now to be found in 
various parts of the United States. My mother, 
whose maiden name was Nelly Hardenbrook, was 
born in the city of New- York, at the corner of 
Beekman and Pearl streets, which my great grand- 
father built, and lived in for many years. From 
the great number of his children, my maternal 
uncles and aunts, I have named the old mansion- 
house "the bee-hive." 

At the close of the American war, my father 
purchased the glass-house farm, three miles and 
an half from the city, as it then was, but now in 
it, on the North river. It received its name from 
an unsuccessful attempt to make glass bottles 
there. It was little north of a country seat called 
Content, a delightful place, the summer residence 
of a Mrs. McAdam, sister to a Mrs. Shaw, whose 
daughter had married Sir Richard Wheat, and 
after his death, admiral Lord Cochran, who, if 
living, now resides in Scotland. My father 
resided at the glass-house farm thirteen years^ 
when he removed to a much larger farm, at 
Pelham, West Chester county, where he resided 
until his death, which happened at the age of 
seventy-six years and ten months; my mother 
survived him several years. 

At four years of age I was put to a woman's 



12 

school, next door to my father's, in Crown-street. 
I afterwards went to a master's school, in Maiden- 
lane, near Nassau-street. When my father resi- 
ded at the glass-house farm, being then about 
twelve years of age, I was sent to Hackensack 
school, in New-Jersey; for during the revolution 
all things in the city were in a state of disorder, 
and there were no good schools established. At 
the institution at Hackensack there were an 
hundred scholars, of the best families, from the 
states of New-York and New-Jersey. The school 
was under the superintendence of Mr. Peter 
Wilson, a most capable and indefatigable teacher, 
who some years afterwards was elected a profes- 
sor of the Latin and Greek languages in Columbia 
College. I left Mr. Wilson to enter Columbia 
College, where in due course I graduated Bachelor 
of Arts. On leaving my alma mater, I was put 
in the office with John Watkins, counsellor at 
law, to study the profession. His wife, — for I lived 
in the family, and cannot forget her kindness to 
me, — was adorned Avith every social and domestic 
virtue. She belonged to a family of talent, being 
a daughter to William Livingston, Governor of 
New-Jersey, and sister to Judge Brockholst 
Livingston. 

1 must turn bnck, leavinj;!: my own historv for 
a season, to give some account of what happened to 
my father during the revolutionary troubles. 

My father, when parties ran high, inclined to 



rapelje's narrative. 13 

the old order of things ; he for one, among many, 
was contented and happy under the British gov- 
ernment. His property was secure, and he, no 
doubt, thought that many of our grievances were 
imaginary. My father was not of a disposition to 
remain still, and expressing his sentiments perhaps 
a little too freely, excited the indignation of some 
of the sons of liberty, from whom he met with 
rude treatment. The mob assailed my father's 
house, in search of my brothers, who had resented 
the insults offered their father, but they were 
saved by the cool intrepidity of my mother, who 
invited a committee of three to come in and search 
the house, declaring that her sons were not there, 
nor did she know when they might be. They 
had been taken from the house disguised in female 
apparel, and secreted for a while. They were 
high spirited young men ; one of them was a 
student in medicine, and the other was preparing 
to be a merchant, under commissary Henry White, 
a man of distinction in that day. 

Another circumstance happened, which was a 
sad grievance to our family. My maternal uncle, 
Theophilus Hardenbrook, chief engineer to the 
king, in New- York, was treated with every insult, 
and was mangled, and ill used by the mob ; but 
to their honor be it said, that the upper classes of 
the whigs did every thing in their power to re- 
strain the mob. He got away from his persecu- 
tors, concealed himself on the banks of the Hudson, 



14 

and at length gaining a little strength, he took a 
small boat to go on board a man-of-war, lying in 
the stream, but after he had reached the ship, 
exhausted from the loss of blood, in attempting to 
get on board, was drowned. These stories, often 
repeated by my dear mother, have sunk deep into 
my heart, and their influences can never be done 
away. My father, for his honesty was never for 
a moment doubted, was allowed by the committee 
of safety in New- York, to reside in New-Jersey, 
where he lived in great retirement until the war 
was over. He had pledged the word of a man of 
principle and honor, and he took no part in the 
revolutionary conflict. 

While my father Avas in banishment, one of 
my mother's relations, a whig, came to her, and 
told her that she had better remove with her 
children into the country, as in the event of tlie 
city being taken by the British, it would be burnt. 
My mother replied, " My dear cousin, you have 
valuable property here, and would not like to 
have it destroyed. What I should wish to see will 
not be a matter of consequence. I assure you it 
is the intention of General Washington to fire the 
city, if it fiills into tlie hands of the British army;" 
and it so happened that soon after they got pos- 
session of the city, a fire commenced somewhere 
to the east of Broad-street, and near the spot 
where Pearl-street and the East river are contin- 
ued round the point, on the east and north side of 



rapelje's narrative. 15 

Broad-street, crossing over to the west side of 
Broadway, before it came to Wall-street, and 
sweeping up on the west side of Broadway, be- 
tween it and the North river. Trinity church 
was burnt. St. Paul's was with difficulty saved, 
and the desolation reached to the North river. 
Many persons were suspected and examined, but 
no satisfactory account of the conflagration could 
be given ; but the general opinion was, that the 
fire originated from design. 

While we lived at the glass-house farm, about 
the close of the war, when many of the Hessians 
were still in the country, a singular circumstance 
happened at our place, which I will relate, not 
that I was a believer in witchcraft, but to show 
how general the belief is in every part of the 
world. In Syria and Egypt, long since that 
period, my mind has been perplexed to account 
for many things that seemed to be out of the com- 
mon course of nature. I will tell the story as it 
was. My father had on his place three cows, one 
of them drooped very much, and appeared very 
poor and sulky. We had two colored men, one of 
whom had been taken by the English army, and 
made to drive a wagon for the Hessians, and he 
became acquainted with their tricks and contri- 
vances. He said to my father, " I now know, 
master, what is th^ matter with our cow ; master, 
if you go on the top of the hill you will see her 
coming this way." Sure enough, as Shadrach, — 



16 rapelje's narrative. 

for this was the name of the colored man, — had 
suggested, she made her appearance, Avhen the 
fellow cut off a piece of the cow's tail, and away 
she bounded, as far as she could, for fences. As we 
stood there, a Hessian soldier came from our 
kitchen, then another from a neighbor's house, to 
the very spot where the cow was ; my father 
called them by name ; they had their heads bound 
up as they came near the cow ; the moment they 
saw my father, they said they were very sick, and 
were looking for herbs to cure them of a bad 
headache, cold, and fever. These men were not 
sick before Sliadrach performed his counter charm 
by letting blood, but after this they were really 
ill, and kept their beds for several days. The 
colored man said he had known many instances 
like this, and that the two men had done the art. 
The cow soon got well. He who laughs at super- 
stition, more than half believes in supernatural 
agency, and he who defends his belief in enchant- 
ments must often be ashamed at his own credulity. 
What Shakspeare and Johnson believed and 
reasoned upon is, however, not a subject to be 
treated with contempt. 

When I entered Columbia College, the second 
Dr. Jolmson was President of the institution. His 
father had been President before the revolution, 
and was exalted in his day and generation. Pro- 
fessor Cochran, an elegant classical scholar, filled 
the chair of Latin and Greek ; Dr. Johannes Gros, 



rapelje's narrative. 17 

a German, that of Moral Philosophy and Geogra- 
phy ; and Professor Kemp, of Mathematics, Natu- 
ral Philosophy, and Astronomy ; he was indefati- 
gable in his duties, and considered by all who 
knew him a ripe scholar. These were the lights of 
mind that led us onward in the paths of know- 
ledge of that day. Then the alumni were happy ; 
but soon there sprung up a sectarian feeling, and 
great art was used to get a Presbyterian head to 
the College. This was after the death of that 
excellent and learned man the Right Reverend 
Bishop More, the President who came after Dr. 
Johnson. This succeeded for a while. The 
charter of the institution made it imperative that 
the President must be an Episcopalian. The 
great mover of the machine would not have it so 
exactly; they made a nominal President, and put 
over his head a Provost. The President was an 
old man, with' a small salary; the Provost had a 
large one, and a house provided for him. This 
liowever did not succeed; the evil remedied itself; 
the College did not prosper under the new auspi- 
ces ; many students took their degrees in other 
Colleges ; the Provost was translated to another 
institution ; and all things were reinstated in their 
former regular course ; and the President became 
an officer de facto as well as de jure. O, I look 
back to the city of my birth, that too of my an- 
cestors, when all things went on in a good old- 
fashioned way ; when those pestiferous sinks of 



18 rapelje's narrative. 

property, the banks, which create artificial capital 
to the destruction of real capital, were unknown. 
I hate the name. They give the speculator an 
opportunity to cheat his honest neighbor. I hate 
modern degeneracy. There was a time, when I 
was a child, if one owed another a few thousands 
of dollars, he had a cart backed up to the door, 
and took in the precious metals in bags, which 
had been previously honestly counted, whether of 
gold or silver. You had only to tell the carman 
where to go, and he went. No guards were 
necessary; his character was enough. These were 
indeed golden days, such as I fear never will 
return. Each man pursued his own course as his 
judgment dictated. There were then no fire and 
life insurance companys' bonds to gull you with 
promises of exhorbitant gains, which were never 
realized. Now-a-days, if a man is known to have 
a few thousands in ready money on hand, an 
hundred schemes are put into operation to get it 
from him. Golden dreams are set before him, and 
one must have a good share of the true knicker- 
bocker, to save himself from destruction. 

It often happens that some of our shrewd, 
sharp dealers are to form some plausible pretext 
or plan for a bank, or a canal, or a rail-road, or 
setting up some factory or other, getting a legisla- 
tive grant or charter, or insurance company ; then 
some one or other of these men who are to be 
trustees or directors is your friend ; he has your 



rapelje's narrative. 19 

confidence, he comes and tells you what great 
gains are to be made from the bank, or institution, 
or factory, or other contrivance they mean to set 
up, and you had better take so many shares, as it 
will raise the stock, and you will make money ; 
all which, as it is told you by your best and 
most confidential friend^ you are induced to believe 
is true; — you agree to take a large number of 
shares. After they get your money, and by some 
means or other deceive you, as to what they put 
in themselves, tliey soon after make out some 
excuse, prepared from the beginning, no doubt, 
that your stock is all gone, and divide yours, and 
other money they have obtained in the same way, 
among themselves. Many, very many, of those 
who are now riding in great style through the 
country, would have been hung, aye, hung for 
conspiracy, had they practised their tricks in any 
European country. 

The first voyage I took at sea must have been 
about the fall of 1791. A Captain John Keaquick, 
knowing well my father, I being then about 
twenty years of age, and a great favorite Avith the 
Captain, it being vacation at College, persuaded 
my father to let me go with him to Boston in a 
brig he commanded, and of which he was part 
owner. The passage was all very well, till we 
came to Cape Cod, when one morning he came 
down in the cabin, and said to me^ " I am afraid it 
is all over with us." I was then laying upon the 



20 

cabin floor, rolling about from one side to the 
other. He, no doubt, expected I might say some- 
thing or other to console him; so he picked me 
up, and placed me in my berth. My reply was, 
" The sooner she goes to the bottom now the 
better ; I am so sea-sick, I would rather die than 
live. For God's sake, can't you stop her from 
rolling about so ^ Can't you have more sail 
hoisted '? I am sure on a small boat, it will 
make her more steady." He took a glass of 
brandy and water, and away he went on deck — 
had more sail hoisted, and she went more steadily, 
and we cleared the cape. 

On my retiu-n from Boston, I was in the office 
of Samuel Jones, Esq., counsellor at law, for about 
six months. This was the gentleman whom the 
Indians liked so well in making their treaties with 
our State, that they would not conclude any ar- 
rangement till Mr. Jones, or Old Pine Knot, as 
they used to call him, was present. There are 
two of his sons eminent lawyers, at this day ; the 
eldest has been Chancellor of the state, and is now 
Chief Justice of the Superior Court in the city of 
New- York. 

Being one day met by a sea-faring acquaint- 
ance, I took it into my head to go with him to the 
West Indies. He told me he was bound to one of 
the Windward Islands, (I think Barbadoes.) In 
October, 1793, we set sail in a brig belonging to 
Ten Eyck, Cockroft & Vandyke, commanded by 



rapelje's narrative. 21 

Capt. Solomon Saltiis, a Burmudean, a very skil- 
ful, worthy, and respectable man. Her name I 
have forgotten, but she was deeply loaded. My 
father and mother reluctantly parted with me, I 
being now an only son ; but having been away 
from home, at school, in my early days, so great 
a part of my time, that I was hardly contented 
to sit quietly down in the family circle, although 
always treated with the greatest paternal kind- 
ness. The articles I was fond of when a boy were 
always placed where I could get them, such as 
boiled milk, tarts, fruits, custards, and the like, in 
a pantry, where I found them when I came home 
after meals on Saturday from school or College; 
and the students from College, or those with whom 
I was studying law, often shared with me. I 
would ask them to walk or ride out in the after- 
noons. Among these were Mr. James Woods, 
counsellor at law, Mr. Parson Cave Jones, (both 
now deceased) the Judge of our new Court of 
Sessions, Mr. Riker, and many others who came 
out to see me on that pleasant spot on the North 
river, the glass-house farm, where there was abun- 
dance of fruits in their season, and of the very best 
kind ; and thus we used to enjoy ourselves com- 
fortably with my parents. My father formerly, 
among other articles of trade, dealt in wines, of 
various kinds, and had his cellar in Crown-street 
often filled with pipes and casks of Madeira, and 
other wines,^ and always, during his residence in 



22 rapelje's narrative. 

the country, had a pipe on tap. I therefore Avas 
allowed to draw a decanter whenever any of my 
company came out to see me ; and my mother 
was always pleased to see my friends and ac- 
quaintances, and would, from a spring we had on 
the place, make a fine dish of the Lest green tea, 
with smoked beef, excellent home baked bread 
and butter, and Bogert's crackers, prepared in the 
way hereafter described, with common comfiture, 
or some kind of sweetmeats, and in the season, cur- 
rants, raspberries, strawberries, cherries, or peach- 
es sliced and sugared. Notwithstanding all my 
comforts at home, I had made up my mind to take 
this voyage. My father wished me to take a thou- 
sand dollars in cash with me for my expenses, but I 
preferred taking part of the cargo, and the owners 
agreed to let me have what sum I pleased. I 
chose for my adventure, peas, ship-bread, and 
flour, to the amount of about a thousand dollars. 
We laid in full and ample stores — we had twelve 
dozen of wine each, porter, and cider, the same of 
Bogert's crackers, made of nothing but flour and 
water, and by putting them in a bowl of fresh cold 
water, they would rise up and burst open ; any 
old man could eat them without teeth. These 
crackers were delicious ; our modern bakers seem 
to have lost the art of making them. I often long 
for the days to return, when I could share with the 
knickerbockers in a cup of tea, from the tea- water 
pump. Whatever of other cake, and bread and 



rapelje's narrative. 23 

butter, we had always a plate of those Bogert's 
biscuits, soaked in cold water, split open, and a 
bit of sweet fresh butter put on each half biscuit. 

We laid in for our voyage every thing in 
proportion, as six dozen of ducks, six dozen of 
fowls, &c. We started in October, and instead 
of getting as far to windward as Barbadoes, we 
fell to leeward as far as the island of Dominique, 
and anchored at the town of Rosseau. Governor 
Bruce, a hearty old officer, invited my fellow 
passenger and myself to dine with him, as also 
Captain Saltus. He entertained us in the most 
sumptuous manner, with the very best Madeira, 
so good that I was quite inspired by it. He 
offered us beds, in his cool house, but we declined, 
and went on board. I here think proper to men- 
tion, that my friend and shipmate was a Mr. 
William Carpenter, of Brooklyn, who had been 
brought up a complete merchant. At the time of 
our arrival, we found that flour was selling at a 
dollar a barrel less than it had cost us ; but the 
Captain luckily hit upon a project to have the 
price advanced, so that we might have a profit. 

After having been in port a couple of days, 
the Captain told the Governor, if there was any 
part of his cargo that was wanting, he might 
have it, but he could not sell it, and sacrifice the 
property of his owners ; and as they had money 
owing to them in the island, he would charter 
another vessel or two, and purchase all the flour 



24 rapelje's narrative. 

in the island at six dollars and a quarter a barrel ; 
for he knew where to take it, to an island not very 
far distant, and get seven or more dollars for all 
they had. The bait took ; and I got for my flour 
one dollar and a half a barrel more than it was at 
that time selling for. In a few days we sailed to 
Point a' Petre, Guadaloupe, where the captain 
and the other passenger laid in sugars for a 
return cargo. They both had been concerned in 
merchandise all their lives, but they missed a 
figure in their purchase. They could easily have 
obtained loldte clayed sugars for the same or a less 
price; but no: (the prejudice of education is a 
wonderful thing!) they laid out all their money 
arising from the cargo they had sold, in hroicn su- 
gars. " Why do you not buy coffee ?" says I; "it 
is selling for sixpence a 230und, New- York money."' 
" O, no ; that would not do." For my part, I had 
no mind to lay out my money — I had sold my 
peas, beans, and flour, and thought I would keep 
my return moneys snug, and not try merchandise 
again. During our stay at Point a' Petre, Guada- 
loupe, my fellow passenger was taken sick, and 1 
sent for the most distinguished physician in the city, 
but could not get him to give my friend any medi- 
cine. On my urging him to prescribe somctliing. 
he replied, " I know not the nature of his di.sease, 
and he liad better die with it, than tliat I should 
kill him by administering improper remedies for 
tlie com})laint ; put him into tlio warm batli tlu'cr 



. 



25 

times a day, and give him light chicken broth and 
gruel, as his appetite may require." The patient 
gave up all hopes of recovery, and made his will ; 
but under this treatment he slowly recovered. 
The captain earnestly assured me I could now 
make something of the return cargo, and he had 
room enough in the hold to put any thing I might 
buy. I therefore bought some clayed sugars, and 
coffee for sixpence a pound. We sailed on Mon- 
day morning, and on the following Wednesday 
arrived at St. Eustatia, where I sold my coffee 
for double the money I gave for it. That was 
pretty good profit in three days. The captain 
and my fellow passenger were ready to tear the 
hair from their heads with vexation. We then 
started for New-York ; but before we arrived at 
Guadaloupe, I remember sailing along a French 
island, called Mariagalante ; when we sailed 
pretty close to it, we saw several horsemen on 
the sand-beach, riding to and fro, and, in a short 
space of time, cannon-balls were fired at us from 
the shore, which went hissing over our vessel, and 
fell beyond us. The captain paid no regard to 
the firing, but kept on ; and a breeze springing 
up, we soon got clear of them. 

On our passage to New- York, we got on the 

Banks of Newfoundland. My fellow passenger, 

who was a great hand at fishing, was fixing his 

lines and hooks, to try to get some cod-fish, when 

4 



26 rapelje's narrative. 

the captain said, " You need not think to catch 
any here ; there has never been any cod-fish 
caught within five hundred miles of w^here we are 
now." So positive are some people. " O, but 
captain," said I, " Carpenter is so fond of fishing, 
you will have no objection to his trying." " O, 
no," says the captain. There was a calm, and I 
think the day was clear. The young man put 
down his line, which, to appearance, reached 
about a hundred fathom. "Ay," says the captain, 
" I told you so ; who ever heard of cod-fish being 
caught in water a hundred fathom deep?" But 
in a short time my fellow passenger brought up as 
fine a fish as ever I saw, and soon after, several 
others ; but the wind soon springing up, put an 
end to the fishing. We sailed then for New- York ; 
and what we made in a week, we were blown off 
again in a day or two. The sailors, poor fellows, 
had a dismal time on the coast, in winter weather, 
knocking the icicles off the rigging, and experi- 
encing a succession of contrary winds and bad 
weather. However, after enduring much cold, 
we arrived at New- York some time in February. 
I remained with my father and mother at the 
glass-house farm, till the fall of 1795, when find- 
ing my health much impaired, I conceived a 
voyage to England might be of service to me; 
and, in the month of October, took my passage 
on board a new ship, called the Niagara, Capt. 



I 



rapelje's narrative. 27 

Black, bound for London.* My father and mother 
were much grieved, and it almost broke my own 
heart to part with them ; but I was in so feeble a 
state, that I concluded a sea voyage would be 
most conducive to the restoration of my health. 
I however got my father's and mother's consent, 
without which I should not have departed. I 
took letters from many most respectable friends 
to deliver in England. Some of them I brought 
back unopened; but those I did deliver were of 
importance to me. I found many friends I had 
known in America, who were all happy to see 
me ; I shall give an account of them as I go on. 
The passengers on board were the captain's wife, 
a captain of a merchant ship, a Mr. Francis 
Bassett, who had been to America to purchase 
some land for a farm, in case there should be a 
revolution in England, which he very much ex- 
pected, and myself We had a very boisterous 
passage, the ship's deck was under water almost 
the whole time. She made the easterly part of 
England, and came within sight of the Scilly 
rocks, which I had before heard of as dangerous, 
but they were at a distance, the water dashing 
over them. It looked as if there was a storm 
coming on. A signal was made for a pilot, and 

* The ship, belonging to the Rhinelanders, of Greenwich-street, New- 
York, had just been built at Hudson. By my writing to my father as soon 
as I landed at Penzance, and sending the letter to Portsmoutli, from which 
place I think the packet sliips sailed for New-York, Rhinelander saved by 
this letter his insurance oi", I think, three thousand dollars. 



28 rapelje's narrative. 

one soon came to the ship. He said, as it was 
near night, he would recommend the captain to 
steer into Mount's Bay, in Penzance, Cornwall. 
Into the bay he went, and cast anchor before 
sunset. My fellow passenger, Mr. Francis Bassett, 
took me about the town, and introduced me to 
several persons, among whom were the clergyman 
of the place, the Mayor of the town, and Sir John 
Price, Bart., a widower. He had an only son, 
named John, who kept a fine stable of twelve 
blood horses, hunters, roadsters, saddle, and car- 
riage. They lived next door to the widow Stone, 
who kept the best inn in the place, and where I 
put up. We passengers were all sitting at supper, 
when in came two custom-house officers to inquire 
about the ship, &c. The captain and some of 
the passengers suspected what was brewing, for 
they knew the yellow fever was in New- York 
when the ship sailed. The men inquired if the 
ship was healthy ; they were answered, it was. 
They then said they would go and inform the 
principal officer, and return in a short time. On 
their departure, what a scampering there was! 
The captain and one passenger going to London, 
paid their bills, ran down to the boat, and went 
on board the ship. The other passenger lived 
about fifteen or twenty miles from Penzance, at 
Truro ; he got a post-chaise at the back door, and 
went off immediately. I alone was left when the 
officers returned. I told them I did not care to 



rapelje's narrative, 29 

go ; I wished to rest myself. I should put myself 
under their laws — the ship was healthy — there 
was no sickness on board, nor had there been any 
on the voyage — that the Niagara was a new ship, 
and that I myself was from the country, not from 
the city of New- York — that I was so well satis- 
fied with the English, their laws, and government, 
they might do what they thought proper with me. 
They consulted together, and said that but to save 
appearances, they would permit me to walk 
to any part of the town, but they would 
rather I sliould stay in the house, and I should 
have the whole range of it ; that there would be 
occasion for two officers to be at the door every 
day, but I believe there was seldom more than 
one. Well, there I lived most sumptuously; every 
day joints of delicious meat, poultry, fish, uncom- 
monly fine potatoes, and other vegetables, with 
fine clotted cream, and apple tarts. I must here 
observe, that in no part of the world is clotted 
cream to be had in such perfection as in Cornwall. 
Many persons from the metropolis are in the habit 
of appreciating its excellence ; and, in consumptive 
cases, it has been generally recommended. This 
part of the country is celebrated for its tin mines. 
There is one shaft sunk down far out in the bay ; 
and in travelling, you see men constantly with a 
large bunch of candles in their hands, going to 
work in these mines. Sir John Price came in 
every day to see me, and amused himself with 



30 

playing battledore with me. When quarantine 
was out, he invited me to breakfast ; it was taste- 
fully set out with delicious fruits, tarts, and plenty 
of game, plover, and fresh eggs, muffins, crumpets, 
and indeed with every thing substantial, I re- 
member I expressed a wish for a book ; he sent 
me " Taplin on Farriery," and wrote me a polite 
note, saying that by Englishmen it was highly 
esteemed, as the author had, in handling the 
subject, freed it from superstition and ignorance, 
from which time he was called " The immortal 
Taplin ;" that his book in six years ran through 
eleven editions, the greatest sale of any book ever 
published in the English language. Indeed, his 
style is as elevated as if he was writing on the 
most dignified national subject. 

At this period there was a cartel arrived from 
France with Englishmen who had been exchanged 
for an equal number of French prisoners ; and 
when I saw them step on shore, the first thing 
they did was to kneel down, and almost involun- 
tarily, one and all, kissed the earth. There icas 
devotion to their- country! They for a moment 
kept on their knees, as if putting up their thanks- 
giving to Heaven for their safe deliverance from 
French imprisonment. 

I left Penzance and came on to Truro, a fine 
looking town, where I spent the night, and the 
next day proceeded to Exeter, and took an occa- 
sion to examine St. Peter's Cathedral. The out- 



rapelje's narrative. 31 

side view is indeed noble. The walls are at least 
eight hundred years old, making a striking contrast 
to our brick churches. Princes, priests, and apos- 
tles are seen gazing from their niches, where they 
have stood for centuries. The archway is orna- 
mented with reposing angels, and St. Peter, with 
the keys of heaven, stands conspicuously in the 
front. There can be nothing in the combinations 
of architecture more imposing than the sight of 
the great Gothic window, with its stained glass 
and beautiful tracery. If the outside is imposing 
and solemn, the inside is full of piety and sublimi- 
ty. The bishop's throne is considered the most 
magnificent of any one in England. It far ex- 
ceeded any thing I ever saw. History informs us 
that this venerable edifice has more than once 
been desolated by a licentious soldiery ; but by 
the hand of taste, and the zeal of pious ecclesias- 
tics, has arisen again in more than former splen- 
dor. It has a chime of ten bells, but the great 
one, which took twenty-five men to ring it, is now 
only used as a bell for the great clock. The 
others are said to make a noble peal. The old 
clock is an astronomical one, and goes to prove 
that the science of astronomy was pretty well 
understood many years ago. Nothing can be 
more solemn than the monuments to the dead in 
this church. Here, within the walls of one of the 
mightiest efforts of the genius of past ages, moul- 
der the remains of prelates, warriors, and sages. 



32 

In such a still and solemn place, so magnificent, 
so full of inspiration, the traveller seems as it 
were standing at the gates of another world, 
which beatified spirits are soon to open on their 
golden hinges. 

From Exeter I proceeded to Bristol, which is 
a fine city. It is situated on, the southern ex- 
tremity of Gloucestershire, and on the northern 
extremity of Somersetshire, and once formed a 
part of both counties. It is one hundred and seven- 
teen miles from London, and twelve from Bath. 
It is situated principally on a peninsula, between 
the Frome and the Avon. It is an ancient city, 
being named in the Doomsday Book of William 
the Conquerer, in 1086; and its inhabitants in 
that book are styled burgesses, certainly implying 
some privileges above ordinary places. It was 
early a great mart of commerce. John Cabot, 
the great explorer, was made a citizen of Bristol 
for his discoveries and enterprising character. 
The public buildings are numerous ; but amidst all 
that wealth could give, or the bustle of trade 
inspire, that it was on one side washed by the 
Avon, Willy Shakspeare's Avon, made it dearer 
to me. As turbid as the waters were, vexed with 
a thousand craft, of every size, the swan of Avon, 
in my imagination, sailed down the tide ; enough 
to consecrate the waters of the Dead Sea. 

From Bristol I made my course to Bath, only 
twelve miles distant, and a little more than an 



rapelje's narrative. 33 

hundred from London. It is situated in the 
bottom of a narrow valley, where hot waters have 
boiled upj perhaps ever since the creation. Those 
luxurious conquerors of the world, the Romans, 
inclosed these springs by walls, including about 
fifty acres. It is now a picturesque place, as it is 
now built. Bath has had a variety of names, such 
as AqucB Solis, Pontes Calidi, &c. Its early his- 
tory commences in fable. 

There are some fine public buildings. The 
Common Council-room is truly elegant, and 
adorned with several portraits of kings, queens, 
and statesmen, — Chatham and Camden among the 
latter. The pump room is eighty-five feet in 
length, forty-six broad, and thirty-five in height. 
The crowd had dispersed at the time of my visit, 
and I could only imagine it in the summer season. 
I was struck with a marble statue of Richard 
Nash, Esq., the arbiter elegantiarum of Bath. 
This man's life shows the power of fashion over 
Avealth, birth, and genius. No monarch of the 
east ever governed with more arbitrary sway his 
vassals or slaves, than Beau Nash did the company 
at Bath. He was polite, discriminating, and just, 
equally the enemy to supercilious aristocracy, and 
to vulgar plebianism. He gave grace and charms to 
free manners ; and if he could not cure a propensi- 
ty to scandal, he taught them to spice it with wit. 
Such a man is of more value to society than we 
5 



34 rapelje's narrative. 

think for. Manners are next to morals, and often 
of more importance to the traveller. 

From Bath I proceeded to Oxford, a place I 
had heard much of while I was in college. It is 
situated in the centre of England, on the southern 
side of Oxfordshire. It was a monastic establish- 
ment, early in the Christian era, m England. It 
is situated in a flat, sedgy country. On the east of 
the town is the river Chirwell, and on the west the 
Isis. These rivers ramify into numerous streams 
at this place, and unite their waters on the south 
side of the city. The history of Oxford has often 
been written, and Cowley, Pope, Wharton, and 
many others, have celebrated it in the sweetest 
strains of poetry. The Isis, having a more poeti- 
cal and classical name than the Chirwell, has 
received all the glories of the Muse. Is there not 
something in a name? The appearance of the 
town from the high grounds is picturesque. The 
water had overflowed the meadows, as is often 
the case in spring and fall, and Oxford looked like 
an island. The numerous churches, colleges, and 
bridges, give the place a singular look. The 
whole city contains not much over six hundred 
acres. On the south are the meadows, and on the 
north is arable land. In ancient times this place 
was defended by fortifications ; they included at 
that time only about a tenth part of the present 
city. It contains, with the suburbs and liberties, 



35 

fourteen parishes. Some historians trace its clas- 
sical character to Alfred the Great. The city has 
been twice burnt by accident, — in 979 and 1002. 
In 1009, Swein, King of Denmark, set fire to it. 
King Ethereld avenged this deed by ordering a 
general massacre of the Danes throughout all his 
dominions. In Oxford the deed was executed 
with the most savage vengeance. The sister of 
the King of Denmark perished with her kindred. 
Swein retaliated, and laid several towns in ashes, 
but his revenge was in a measure satiated before 
he reached Oxford, and he spared it with imposing 
a fine only. Ethereld, who had fled to France, 
now returned and glutted his rage in return. 
Such were the unsettled times in the early ages of 
English history. King Edward, called Ironsides, 
held his court in Oxford. The city was stubborn 
when taken possession of by William of Norman- 
dy. Richard Cceur de Lion was born in Oxford. 
This the people are proud of to this day. He 
certainly was the proudest of all the hosts of the 
crusaders, although 

" He left a name at which the world grew pale, 
To point a moral, or adorn a tale." 

Queen Elizabeth was fond of Oxford, for a 
very good reason. This University decreed the 
marriage of Henry VIII. with Catharine of Arra- 
gon to be void ; which gave the King an opportu- 
nity of marrying Anne Boylen, the mother of 
Elizabeth. In 1577 a sickness broke out here, 



36 rapelje's narrative. 

that carried off a great proportion of the inhabi- 
tants. For a while it was deserted, as a sickly- 
place ; but it had so far recovered its reputa- 
tion for a healthy one, that King James came to 
Oxford and spent the summer of 1665, when the 
plague broke out in London. The town's people 
and scholars have been quarreling for centuries ; 
and I believe this is a common case throughout my 
own country, as well as this. It is a little singular 
that the first act for the freedom of the press in En- 
gland was granted to this University by Richard 
III., who allowed it to export and import books 
at pleasure. Here was established the first press 
in England. Here was educated the great John 
Wickliffe, the first translator of the Bible into the 
English language. He was one of the sturdy Pu- 
ritans, who assisted in breaking down the power of 
the Papal See. But the University had many be- 
nefactors among the Catholics : Cardinal Wolsey 
founded Christ's College here, and endowed seven 
professorships. It was not until the reign of James 
I, that the University had the privilege of sending 
two representatives to Parliament. This was 
just and generous, — letters should be represented. 
Charles I. was friendly to Oxford. James II. 
played the fool there by attempting to direct " the 
wilderness of free minds," and this was one great 
cause of his unpopularity and final ejectment from 
his kingdom. 

The officers of the College are numerous ; a 



37 

Chancellor, a High Steward, a Vice Chancellor, 
and Public Orator, with many others. The Uni- 
versity consists of twenty Colleges and five Halls. 
The Colleges bear date from 1264 to 1740 ; the 
Halls from 1200 to 1480. Oxford is a fine place 
for a gentleman to spend a few months in ; as he 
can, upon proper recommendation, obtain access 
to the Bodleian library, which is large and rich in 
materials for history that have been accumulating 
ever since its foundation in the reign of Queen 
Elizabeth, and the earlier records are deposited 
here for safety. And what is still more important 
to some persons, Oxford has a fine market. 

I am now in London, the most noble and po- 
pulous city in Europe, and, in my opinion, the 
first, all things considered, in the world. For 
years I have longed to see this great emporium. 
I shall take as wide a survey of it as I can consis- 
tent with my state of health. With me geogra- 
phy is first, and history follows. London is situ- 
ated on a valley, or rather perhaps a plain, on the 
banks of the Thames, which divides the city into 
two irregular parts, and passes through from west 
to east in its journey to the sea. It is stupendous 
when we look to its trade, commerce, wealth, and 
population. It is a sort of grand caravansary of 
the world. It not only concentrates the trafiic of 
England, but it is the broker's shop of all nations. 
It is the residence of royalty, the seat of Parlia- 
ment ; the judges settle the law here ; the com- 



38 rapelje's narrative. 

merce of the trading world is arranged here. Sci- 
ence, literature, and also all the great blood vessels 
of benevolence and charity, are found here. It is 
not like many cities, scrimped for room. A great 
portion of it is on the northern bank of the Thames, 
in the county of Middlesex. It now covers eigh- 
teen square miles, or eleven thousand five hun- 
dred and twenty acres. This calculation includes 
the bed of the Thames, which is about four hun- 
dred yards wide, taking it on an average. The old 
city includes the central part, called the east end. 
Here a great portion of the commerce is carried 
on. The southern bank of the Thames from 
Deptford to Lambeth bears some resemblance 
to the east end ; but abounds not only in com- 
merce but in manufactures. Every part of this 
Babylon is alive with industry. In war or peace 
they go on about the same, or if any change is per- 
ceived, it is more brisk in war than in peace. It 
is said that it contains seventy squares, eight hun- 
dred streets, lanes, &c. The inhabitants are now 
somewhat over a million, and are rapidly increas- 
ing. It is an old place, and was a town before the 
invasion of Julius Csesar. The Romans gave it 
consequence by walling it and making it a favor- 
ite residence. Tradition will have it that Caesar 
built a castle, which is now called the Tower of 
London. Many of the institutions of London are 
decidedly of ancient date. It was one of the 
first portions of Britain which was converted to 



rapelje's narrative. S9 

Christianity. Melitus was consecrated the first 
Bishop of London in 604. Notwithstanding the 
general accuracy of the Doomsday Book of Wil- 
liam the Conqueror, London is not mentioned in it. 
This can only be accounted for by some privileges 
which it then enjoyed, for certainly the place must 
have been of sufficient consequence to have been 
registered at that time. London has been fated 
to all the casualties of other cities. In 1077, a 
great part of the city was destroyed by fire ; in 
1086 there was another great fire, and in four 
years afterward a tornado passed over the city, 
and demolished six hundred houses. In 1196 the 
city suffered from popular riots ; the first, I under- 
stand, that were ever known in that city for such 
a cause. In 1212 another great fire took place, in 
which three thousand persons perished in the 
flames. In the Magna Charter wrested from King 
John, three years after this period, it is stipulated 
that the city of London should have " all its an- 
cient privileges and free customs, as well by land 
as water." In 1264, there was a massacre of the 
Jews ; there had been one before. 

In 1348, a terrible pestilence, which travelled 
from India, the cradle of all things that enlighten 
or destroy the human race, reached liondon in its 
progress over the globe. Scarcely had the pesti- 
lence done walking in darkness and wasting at 
noon-day, and as yet the gloom had not passed 
away, when Edward the Black Prince returned 



40 

from his victorious campaigns in France, bringing 
with him the King of France, whom he exhibited 
in triumph, in the streets of London. The citizens 
evinced their patriotism and their wealth on the 
occasion ; the greatest splendor was exhibited by 
the commonalty as well as nobility. In 1381, Lon- 
don was shaken to its very foundations by the in- 
surrection of Watt Tyler. This agony lasted only 
three weeks^the lawyers and the literati suffered 
severely in this insurrection. The rabble burnt 
the inns of court, and murdered every lawyer they 
caught. The city suffered from other causes. 
From the death of Henry VIII. the religious feuds 
were disastrous. Edward, his son, was young and 
feeble minded — Mary, his successor, bigoted and 
cruel. She condemned and executed more than 
two hundred for religious heresies, as she called 
them. The fires lighted at Smithfield were not 
put out for nearly a century. During the reign of 
the house of Stuart, new evils were inflicted on the 
city of London. The plague of 1665, which carried 
off an hundred thousand victims, was followed by 
the great fire in 1666, which destroyed a good pro- 
portion of the city. The evils which had hovered 
over and fallen on London seemed in a good mea- 
sure to cease, when William and Mary came to the 
throne, by a fair contract between rulers and peo- 
ple. The history of the city since, is so well known 
to all the reading community, that I shall not detail 
it, but describe a few of the curiosities that at- 



rapelje's narrative. 41 

tracted my attention while in London. Among 
the first was St. Paul's Cathedral. This noble edi- 
fice requires particular attention. Several edifices 
had been erected on the site before the present 
noble pile arose. This, which now stands, I shall 
attempt to give some account of; for it is one of 
great interest to travellers. It is the first object 
that strikes the eye as you enter the city, and the 
last you behold when leaving it. It is entirely of a 
different style of architecture from St. Peter's Ca- 
thedral at Exeter, for St. Paul's is of Grecian ori- 
gin. The design was from that classical scholar 
and elevated genius, Sir Christopher Wren. It is 
in the form of a cross, five hundred feet long, and 
two hundred and eighty-five broad, covering more 
than two acres of ground. It was finished in the 
reign of Queen Anne. A colossal statue of the 
Q,ueen adorns the principal entrance. The allego- 
rical emblems which are on certain portions of this 
piece of sculpture I had not patience to attempt. 
At the western end appears the majestic dome, sur- 
mounted by a ball and cross. The north and 
south-western extremities support two splendid 
towers. A statue of St. Paul stands in the centre 
of one front, and the figures of the four evangelists, 
in a recumbent posture, cover another. The mate- 
rial of the edifice is massive and durable, being 
Portland stone. If it was ever white, it has now 
grown dingy by smoke or time. When you enter 
this Grecian temple, the mind is carrried back to 
6 



42 rapelje's narrative. 

the days of Pericles. The airy, tasteful appear- 
ance of every thing around, gives you fresh admi- 
ration for that w^onderful people, who had no gloom 
in their religion, no fears of death in their imagi- 
nation ; who in a bland air and under brilliant 
skies, caught every inspiration of nature, and 
embodied the whole in marble. 

This church contains the monuments of many 
distinguished men. Howard, the philanthropist, 
has a monument here, or rather a full length 
statue. He is dispensing good things to man 
while struggling with ignorance and oppression. 
The statue of Dr. Samuel Johnson exhibits the 
author of the Rambler in profound thought. 

I visited the whispering gallery, an accidental 
combination of arches and angles which gives to a 
soft whisper a strong, articulate sound at the dis- 
tance of more than an hundred feet, and the shut- 
ting of a door reverberated like thunder, enough 
almost to stun one. After all the interior elegance 
of St. Paul's, I should prefer to pay my homage to 
my Maker in the Gothic cathedral, whose archi- 
tect reminds one of the pale lamps and sacred 
shrines of the Christian Fathers. 

My next steps were directed to 

*' Where London's column pointing to the skies, 
Like a tall bully, lifts his head and lies." 

This column received the honor of the above 
couplet from Pope, from an inscription on it 
charging or insinuating that the great fire in 1666 



rapelje's narrative. 43 

was the doings of the Catholics, which Pope be- 
lieved to be false. It is now tottering, and is not 
held in respect, either for its form, masonry or com- 
memorations, and will probably be pulled down 
before many years. It looks now as if it was 
about to fall on the head of the traveller. I 
visited the Tower. It is an old and clumsy build- 
ing, and fit only for the abode of wild beasts ; 
although some noble fellows have been impri- 
soned here. We were shown the jewels of the 
crown, those heir-looms of the kingly office 
which no monarch can appropriate to himself. 
Formerly these jewels were kept by some great 
officer of state, but now they were shown to us 
by a young woman, who was extremely eloquent 
in giving us the history of the several jewels, as 
she took them out of the casket and carefully 
returned them again. Each room in this ancient 
pile has some appendant story for the benefit of 
those who live by showing the Tower to stran- 
gers, and the stairs under which the murdered 
children's bones were found, is not the least inte- 
resting place about the tower. I was several 
times here, and found all they said they had by 
rote ; for they never varied their narratives. 
The sentences, words, and syllables were always 
the same ; but after all, these traditions must be 
taken " cum grano salis^^^ as the legends have, in 
many instances, but little history to support them. 
Even to one accustomed to the harbor of 



44 RAPELJE S NARRATIVE. 

New-York, destined, I believe, to be a rival 
one day to London herself, the forest of masts 
is astonishing. Vessels lie near each other as far 
as the eye can extend its vision. Not being 
avsrare how swiftly the water ran under London 
bridge, I, with one of my countrymen, a Mr. Sea- 
man from New- York, came near being swamped 
in a small wherry as we attempted to pass under 
one of the arches. The boatmen on the Thames 
are expert, but many accidents happen, notwith- 
standing their skill. 

It is the height of English ambition to repose 
after life's fitful fever, in Westminster Abbey. 
There is hardly a child of ten years of age, who 
speaks the English language, who has not some 
idea of this illustrious cemetery. The site of 
the church and monastery of St. Peter, was 
in early times an island, by some ramification 
of the Thames, now only discernible to antiqua- 
rians, who take pains to show the fact. OiFa, 
King of Marcia, granted certain lands to this 
monastery in 785. For several centuries it was 
protected by the petty kings. The Abbey was 
used for their coronation, which gave it a high 
degree of esteem among all classes of people. 
Edgar, in 957, by the instigation of Dunstan, 
founded here an order of Benedictine Monks. 
Edward the Confessor, however, was the great 
patron of the Abbey ; he enlarged it as a sub- 
stitute for his vow of going to Rome, to thank 



rapelje's narrative. 45 

Heaven for mercies received. The style of the 
architecture of this building is Gothic, but as it had 
many builders of different tastes, it is not exactly 
to be classed under any particular style. It is 
said that within the walls of Westminster Abbey, 
was printed the first book from an English press, 
in March, 1474, entitled The Game of Chess. The 
Abbey was in jeopardy in the reign of Henry 
VIII., but from the partiality of the King to this 
place, it rode the storm and became a cathedral 
with a bishop. In the next reign, part of the 
possessions or income of St. Peter's were appro- 
priated to the repair of St. Paul's Cathedral in 
London. Hence arose the proverb of "robbing 
Peter to pay Paul." It is now many centuries 
since it became a burial place, which makes it a 
place of attraction and resort. 

After visiting the chapels, the traveller is in 
haste to see the "Poet's Corner." The monument 
of " Old Chaucer" shows that the chisel had not 
transcended the pen in that, for his verse is quite 
as smooth as his monumental stone. Spencer's 
monument has a very short inscription. "His 
divine spirit needs no other witness than the 
works which he has left behind him." The ceno- 
taph erected to the memory of Rowe has the 
following lines written on it. 

" Thy reliques, Rowe ! to this sad shrine we trust, 
And near thy Shakspcare place thy honor'd bust. 
Oh ! next him skill'd to draw the tender tear, 
For never heart felt passion more sincere; 
To nobler sentiments to fire the brave, 
For never Briton more disdain' d a slave. 



46 rapelje's narrative. 

f eace to thy gentle shade, and endless rest, 
Blest in thy genius, in thy love too blest ! 
And blest that, timely from our scene remov'd, 
The soul enjoys that liberty it lov'd! 
To these so mourn'd in death, so lov'd in life, 
The childless parent and the widow'd wife, 
With tears inscribes this monumental stone 
That holds their ashes and expects her own." 

The epitaph on Gay is delicate and forcible. 

" Of manners gentle, of affections mild ; 
In wit a man, simpHcity a child ; 
With native humor temp'ring virtuous rage, 
Form'd to dehght at once and lash the age ; 
Above temptation in a low estate, 
And uncorrupted e'en among the great : 
A safe companion and an easy friend, 
Unblam'd through life, lamented in thy end; 
These are thy honors ; not that here thy bust 
Is mix'd with heroes, or with kings thy dust; 
But that the worthy and the good shall say. 
Striking their pensive bosoms, there hes Gay !" 

The epitaph of Milton is in plain prose, no 
poet venturing to invoke the Muse who had in- 
spired the author of " Paradise Lost." His monu- 
ment is more durable than marble, composed of 
his works, which will never die so long as the 
English language is spoken. Milton, however, re- 
ceives a compliment in the inscription on the tomb 
of Gray. 

" No more the Grecian Muse unrivall'd reigns, 

To Britain let the nations homage pay ; 
She felt a Homer's fire in Milton's strains, 

A Pindar's rapture in the lyre of Gray." 

Sir Godfrey Kneller was a distinguished paint- 
er, the favorite artist of William and Mary, and 
ranked among the poets and men of genius of his 
day ; he belonged to the Kit-Cat club, and was 
really a man of talents. Pope wrote his epitaph. 

"Kneller by Heaven, and not a master, taught, 
Whose art was nature, and whose pictures thought ; 
When now two ages he had snatch'd from fate, 
Whate'er was beauteous or whate'er was OTeatj 
Rest crown'd with princes' honors, poets' lays. 
Due to his merit and brave thirst of praise ; 
Living, great Nature fear'd he might outvie 
Her works ; and dying, fears herself may die." 



rapelje's narrative. 47 

I was anxious to visit Windsor, as I had heard 
so much of the place, and made my arrangements 
accordingly. It is chiefly distinguished for having 
been the residence of several of the sovereigns of 
England, from William the Conqueror down to 
George III. The Saxon chroniclers state that 
William kept some of his holy-days here. William 
Rufus was at Windsor in 1095-96 and '97. The 
festivals he held there were secure from tumult or 
apprehension. Windsor Castle was a strong 
military post. Henry VIII. added to the Castle. 
A great tournament was held at Windsor in the 
reign of Edward I. Edward II. made it a place 
of resort ; and Edward III. was born here, and 
during life cherished an affection for the place. 
He made more improvements than any of his 
predecessors. He impressed workmen from the 
neighboring counties to make repairs upon the 
Castle. In Windsor Castle, Richard II. heard the 
charge of the Duke of Lancaster against the Duke 
of Norfolk, but not being able to decide the ques- 
tion, appointed them a day for mortal combat. 

During the Commonwealth, Windsor Castle 
was garrisoned by Parliament troops. In 1648 
the Castle was the prison of Charles I. On the 
restoration of Charles II. he repaired the Castle, 
which he found in a state of great dilapidation. 
After making his improvements, he usually spent 
his summer months at Windsor. 

Queen Anne, when Princess of Denmark, 



48 rapelje's narrative. 

resided in a cottage at Windsor. George III. 
makes it a favorite residence. He has employed 
our countryman West to ornament the Chapel of 
St. George w^ith some elegant paintings. For 
nearly four centuries, sovereigns and prelates have 
exerted themselves to ornament this Chapel. In 
it w^ere buried Henry VIII., and his favorite wife 
Jane Seymour ; also Charles I., and many persons 
of distinction among the Peers. 

There are tw^o parks at Windsor, one the 
home park, and the other the great Windsor park, 
which is said to be twenty-one miles round. It is 
in a high state of cultivation, in trees and grass. 
The cattle, horses, sheep, and hares, were seen in 
every direction holding a holy-day. The feed was 
as luxuriant as ever grew on the German flats. 
George III. is one of the best farmers in England. 
His breed of sheep is excellent, and he is as good 
a judge of the weight of wool, meat, and tallow, 
as any drover in the whole nation. Windsor is a 
distance of twenty-one miles from London, which 
the King drives in less than two hours ; for he is a 
very Jehu on horseback, and rides elegantly. 
The land all about the Castle seems to be a piece 
of enchantment, and is often surveyed by the King 
from the terrace. Pope is not extravagant in his 
praise of Windsor, when he says : 

" Thy forest, Windsor ! and thv green retreats, 
At once the Monarch's and the Muses' seats, 
Invite my lays. Be present, sylvan maids ! 
Unlocii your springs, and open all your shades. 
Granville commands ; your aid, O Muses bring! 
What Muse for Granville can refuse to sing"? 



rapelje's narrative. 49 

" The groves of Eden, vanish'd now so long, 
Live in description, and look green in song; 
These, were my breast inspir'd with equal flame, 
Like them in beauty, should be like in fame. 
Here hills and vales, the woodland and the plain, 
Here earth and water seem to strive again ; 
Not, chaos-like, together crush'd and bruis'd, 
But, as the world, harmoniously confus'd ; 
Where order in variety we see. 
And where, though all things differ, all agree. 
Here waving groves a chequer'd scene display, 
And part admit, and part exclude the day ; 
As some coy nymph her lover's warm address, 
Nor quite mdulges, nor can quite repress. 
There, interspers'd in lawns and opening glades, 
Thin trees arise that sun each other's shades. 
Here in full light the russet plains extend; 
There, wrapt m clouds, the bluish hills ascend. 
E'en the wild heath displays her purple dyes. 
And 'midst the desert, fruitful fields arise, 
That crown with tufted trees and springing corn, 
Like verdant isles the sable waste adorn. 
Let India boast her plants, nor envy we 
The weeping amber, or the balmy tree. 
While by our oaks the precious loads are borne, 
And realms commanded which those trees adorn. 
Not proud Olympus yields a nobler sight. 
Though gods assembled grace his towering height. 
Than what more humble mountains offer here, 
Where in their blessings, all those gods appear. 
See Pan with flocks, with fruits Pomona crown'd. 
Here blushing Flora paints the enamell'd ground, 
Here Ceres' gifts in waving prospect stand, 
And nodding tempt the joyful reaper's hand." 

I saw at Windsor a dairy of twelve cows, said 
to be presents from various parts of Europe, from 
crowned heads to the Q,ueen. They were in fine 
order, and the largest I had ever seen. The 
dairy-house was a fine building, and the whole 
arrangement excellent. No favorite horses ever 
had more care taken of them, than these cows. I 
ate some of the butter, and never tasted better. 
There is much to be done in our country in im- 
proving the breed of cattle, and in making butter 
and cheese. We are far behind England in the 
economy of the dairy. 

Near the town is the Billingsgate fish-market ; 

7 



50 rapelje's narrative. 

as I turned a corner, I saw a large woman, with a 
broad-brimmed hat, and broad, high flushed cheeks; 
of her I inquired the way to the Billingsgate fish- 
market. Putting her arms a-kimbo, with her hands 
on her sides, and raising herself on her toes, in a 
harsh, discordant, angry tone, she replied, " This is 
the market, and I am one of the Billingsgate fish- 
women; what the d — 1 do you think of me ?" I was 
almost struck dumb at her size and speech, but I 
made the best of my situation, by saying, '' Why, 
I really think you a fine looking woman, with a 
basket of excellent fish." " Then," said she, " will 
you not buy some of my fish?" " I have no family, 
a lodger in a hotel," — and this, with the present of 
an English shilling, saved me, no doubt, from at 
least a torrent of abuse. This market, which I 
expected to find large and convenient, is indeed 
very small. 

England is the most renowned of all countries 
for its extensive charities, and London is the focus 
of them. The Foundling Hospital has been erect- 
ed many years. In 1713, Addison called the at- 
tention of the public to the subject in a number of 
the Guardian but a few years before the institu- 
tion was chartered. The object of this charity is 
the support of deserted children, and has been the 
means of doing much good. Handel was a patron 
of this institution. He presented the organ for the 
chapel, and performed on it his Messiah for the 
benefit of the charity. 



rapelje's narrative. 51 

The Magdalen Hospital is an excellent institu- 
tion, and has saved the lives of thousands, and re- 
stored many who had been abandoned, to their 
friends again. The celebrated Dr. Dodd w^as one 
of the principal founders of this charity. 

Greenwich Hospital is an honor to the country. 
It is an excellent retreat for aged or wounded sea- 
men. It is a fine building. The terrace facing the 
Thames is eight hundred and sixty-five feet long. 
The edifice is built of Portland stone ; it is about 
five miles from London bridge. This institution 
has been patronized by all the monarchs of Eng- 
land since it was established in 1695. The seve- 
ral buildings are ornamented by statuary and 
paintings. The pensioners are numerous. They 
resemble the relics of a beaten army. The prin- 
cipal revenue is derived from the payment of six 
pence a month from every seaman. 

Chelsea College is to the army, what Green- 
wich Hospital is to the navy ; and is supported, in 
part, by deducting one day's pay a year from each 
officer and soldier, and from parliamentary grants. 

One day I went to my barber's, to be dressed. 
As he was combing my hair, I began to launch out 
into praises on the country, — he knew me to be an 
American, — describing it as abounding in every 
thing that could gratify the wants and wishes of 
man, but added, " I suppose you find it hard work 
to live, from the oppressive weight of your taxes 
and poor-rates." He jumped several feet, on hear- 



52 rapelje's narrative. 

ing this remark, came directly before me, and ex- 
claimed, " Great God, Sir ! do not pity us. We 
are the greatest nation in the world ; and if the 
taxes were ten times as large as they are, able to 
pay them. Let those who don't think so go to 
your country; we shall be glad to get rid of all 
grumblers. And when they are in your country, 
they find fault with every thing ; they are bad citi- 
zens every where. You ought to look after them 
sharply, if they come among you." This was a 
full-blooded Englishman ; and with the exception 
of a few radicals, who are called by the common 
people king-killers, this is the most loyal people in 
the world. They act upon the motto, Deo^ R^g^-, 
Po'pulo ; only some of them change the arrange- 
ment. This love of country has carried the nation 
through a thousand storms of state, and the envy 
of all Europe. They have shed their blood in 
every land, and carried their thunders on every 
wave, from their love of country. 

Whilst living at Leicester-square, in fine wea- 
ther I took my daily walk to see whatever came 
in my way ; and this great metropolis abounds in 
matters of curiosity to a stranger. In one of my 
strolls, I got into a street which I thought was 
Rag Fair. On inquiry, I was told that it was 
Rosemary-lane; and my informant added, "and 
one that can turn out as many pennies as any street 
of its size in London." The street, or lane, exhi- 
bited a curious spectacle. Old clothes, furniture, 



rapelje's narrative. 53 

trunks, and all sorts of trumpery, were hanging 
from the upper story of every house, down to the 
ground, and the streets so crowded with this bag- 
gage, that the passengers were in danger of break- 
ing their shins at every step. This lane was ten 
or twelve hundred feet in length. 

Party spirit was then running high; and my 
friend from New-York, Mr. Seaman, was a high 
democrat, and at all places expressed himself too 
freely. While we were at a hotel, which I believe 
they called the Anti-Gallican, Seaman pronounced 
a flaming eulogy on Bonaparte, who was then in 
the zenith of his glory. In an instant a dozen 
canes were raised to chastise him ; but on my sta- 
ting that he had been dining out, and ought to be 
forgiven, in an instant they were all still, and let 
him go ; but he came near having his head broken 
for his political sentiments, where the rule is to 
say what you are a mind to say, — rather a dan- 
gerous doctrine in the freest country, if you are not 
with an overwhelming majority. 

Next door to my lodging, lived Sir Benjamin 
Tibbs, who owned the house my landlady rented. 
Sir Benjamin had a daughter then about twenty- 
one years of age. She often visited my landlady. 
I was introduced to her, and as she was of a lively 
disposition, I sought her company ; often walked 
with her to the Park. On Easter night, I saw her 
at the Lord Mayor's ball. She took my arm, and 
as we walked through the rooms, she explained 



54 rapelje's narrative. 

to me all the ceremonies. I danced with her 
several times. Her height, her manners, her face, 
and complexion, were all to my taste, and she 
was intellectual enough for the wife of a states- 
man, I was quite enamoured with her, but I 
called to mind my parents, and dared not to 
express my feelings. 

I visited a cousin of my father's, Mr. John 
Rapelje, who lived in Kensington. His estates in 
Brooklyn had been confiscated during the revolu- 
tionary war. The British government had noticed 
him on his coming to England, and he was living 
comfortably. I dined with him, and had a pleas- 
ant time. 

I found near my lodgings a pastry and con- 
fectioner by the name of Johnson, a very sensible 
man. Here I regaled myself very often. I liked 
many traits in this man's character. He had been 
a foundling, and had lived in matrimony several 
years without children, when he adopted two 
foundlings, and was bringing them up well. 

By virtue of my letters, I became acquainted 
with several respectable families, to whom I was 
much indebted for their kindness and attention to 
me. The Plomer family were occupying a neat 
cottage a few miles out of town, ornamented with 
a fine library, to which I had free access, during 
my visits to them, which were frequent, as they 
lived so much to my mind. I also received many 
civilities from Lady Affleck ; dined with her and 



RAPELJE S NARRATIVE. 55 

accompanied her sons to a ball. They were po- 
lished gentlemen. 

I became acquainted with Colonel John 
Church, being introduced to him and family by 
General Alexander Hamilton. These gentlemen 
had married sisters, the daughters of General 
Schuyler of Albany. Mr. Church had a fine 
family of children, two of the daughters being 
married in New- York, one to a Mr. Burner, a 
lawyer, and the other to Peter Cruger, Esq. an 
opulent merchant. He lived in London, like a 
nobleman. He had a service of plate, and ser- 
vants in livery. I shall ever feel grateful for the 
kindness they showed me. Several other families 
were attentive to me, as a stranger from New- 
York. Mr. White, who resided then in London, 
was not behind my other friends in his civilities. 
His daughter had married Sir John Macnamara 
Hays, a surgeon and physician of high standing. 
He had a fine family, and I often visited him. At 
his table, I found the best of old port wine, as 
also at many others. It is of so good a quality in 
London, that I am not surprised at the preference 
the Londoners give it over all other wines. We 
do not have as good in this country. Good judges 
say that coming so far by sea injures port wine, 
while the same cause ripens Madeira. 

One evening, at a place of public amusement, 
I met my old friend, Captain John Keaquick, 
and he obtained a promise from me to take pas- 



56 rapelje's narrative. 

sage to the United States with him. He had a 
fine ship. We sailed from London in July. The 
ship was an excellent sailer. She passed pilot- 
boats, frigates, and every thing that floated. The 
captain was part owner of her, and I offered to 
purchase her; but as he did not choose to sell 
her, I advised him to have her coppered and put 
her into the India trade. He did, and soon made 
his fortune. He lived at Bristol, and gave me a 
polite invitation to spend a season with him. 

When I returned to New- York, I found my 
father had moved to Pelham, Westchester county, 
and also his brother-in-law, John Hardenbrook, 
Esq. He had a noble farm there of three hundred 
acres. The water of the Sound and Eastchester 
Bay laved the shores of his farm, and furnished 
most excellent fishing, which we enjoyed; often 
bringing home fine black-fish and sheep-heads, the 
latter not unfrequently weighing from ten to fifteen 
pounds. 

I now began to think that it was time for 
me to leave the state of celibacy, and get me a 
wife. At the assemblies, I became acquainted 
with Eliza Provoost, daughter of the Episcopa- 
lian Bishop of New-York, and married her. The 
Bishop was educated at Cambridge, and had mar- 
ried an Irish lady by the name of Bousfield ; her 
T)rother was a fellow student at Cambridge, with 
the Bishop. The Bishop was a whig during the 
revolutionary war. When peace was restored, he 



57 

took charo^e of the rectorship of Trinity Church, 
and went out with Bishop White to England, to 
be ordained and consecrated Bishop. He was a 
ripe scholar, and took great delight in reading to 
the last of his life. He read with rapidity, and 
would talk upon current subjects as a man of 
the world. He read an Italian book on the even- 
ing of his death, which was caused by an apo- 
plectic fit. Mrs. Provoost died several years 
before him. She was a fine woman, of excellent 
disposition, and superior talents. She managed 
her household affairs with hospitality and econo- 
my, and educated her daughters to follow in her 
paths. 

I built a house and resided on the banks of 
the Hudson, about two miles from the city of 
New- York, for six years. After this, I resided 
at Pelham until my father's death, when I sold 
my farm and came to live in the city of New- 
York. 

On the 18th of March, 1821, I left New- York 
for Liverpool, at ten o'clock in the morning, and 
was taken on board the ship Albion, Captain 
J, Williams, by the steam-boat Fulton, and had a 
passage of twenty-one days ; during which, we 
experienced many heavy gales of wind. The ship 
was a first-rate sailer ; of about four hundred 
tons burden, and every thing on board for the 
utmost convenience of passengers ; a state-room 
8 



58 rapelje's narrative. 

for every two passengers. Forty guineas vras 
the passage money for one, and every thing found; 
three courses at dinner of the best the markets 
could supply, and abundance of every luxury ; 
all kinds and plenty of vs^ine, porter, cider, &c. 
&c. We arrived at Liverpool on Saturday morn- 
ing, the 31st, at nine o'clock. We experienced 
some delay at the custom-house, where the bag- 
gage was all searched, and every package opened. 
The passengers on board were Dr. Honeiur, and 
Dr. Francis, of Philadelphia; Mr. Fenshan, Mr. 
and Mrs. Peck, three children, and servant-maid, 
all of Boston ; Mr. Tallaman and Mr. Shasseaur, 
both Frenchmen ; Mr. Kennedy, of New- York ; 
Mr. Hodgson and Mr. Green, of Liverpool ; Lord 
Chamberg Kerr, a Scotchman; Capt. Williams, 
of the English navy; Messrs. Trimby and Haw- 
thorn, (the last four from Canada;) Judge Easton, 
of Bermuda ; Capt. or Lieut. Floyd of the Ameri- 
can marines ; Mr. Haight and myself, of New- 
York. Many of the passengers were very sick 
during the passage, but I stood it out very well, 
and was but little indisposed. I put up at the Wa- 
terloo Hotel, an excellent tavern, neat and clean ; 
and the proprietor remarkably civil and attentive. 
On Sunday morning, the 1st of April, I walked to 
Tiverton, a village a mile and a lialf from Liver- 
pool; returned to breakfast, and started at ten 
o'clock, in a steam-packet for Dublin, a distance 
of about one hundred and twenty-five miles. The 



rapelje's narrative. 59 

river is called the Mersey, at Liverpool. We then 
crossed the channel ; the weather rainy, and wind 
blew hard ahead ; most of the passengers were 
sick ; I was not. This steam-boat, the best there 
at that time, was really, very, very inferior to ours 
in every respect, with a very small cabin ; the 
price, a guinea and a half, and dinner, tea, and 
steward, came to half a guinea more. We had a 
passage of twenty-three hours, and got to Dublin 
the next morning at nine o'clock. The river 
Liffey runs through the city; it is not very wide; 
there are several bridges over it ; one of cast iron. 
Fine salmon are caught in this river. The sur- 
rounding country is beautiful and fertile. I put up 
at Morrison's Hotel, where there were excellent 
accommodations. I saw there. Sir Frederick 
Flood. Mr. Morrison took me in his car, drawn 
by a beautiful horse, to see several places ; first to 
the Foundling Hospital, where were six or seven 
hundred of various ages, and under the patron- 
age of some of the most respectable ladies and 
gentlemen ; then to the King's park of some miles 
in extent ; the residence, in summer, of the Lord 
Lieutenant of Ireland. The grounds have been 
highly improved ; flocks of deer, of six, eight, and 
twelve in a herd, are to be seen all through it, to 
the amount of several hundred. In the evening, I 
went to the theatre, and saw Mr. Brunson from 
London. Mrs. Humby, Mr. Drake, and Mr. Farren 
performed very well. It was a new theatre, fitted 



60 rapelje's narrative. 

up with much chaste taste, but badly attended. I 
suppose there were not three hundred and fifty 
persons in the house. Tlie next morning I saw 
a show of flowers by the Horticultural Society in 
the Rotunda, where there was a great assemblage 
of beautiful ladies ; a fine military band played 
during the time. In this city there are some spa- 
cious and beautiful squares, viz. Merion and Ste- 
phen's Green. On Wednesday, April 14th, I set 
off in the mail coach for Cork, a distance of one 
hundred and thirty miles ; the fare, one pound and 
ten shillings, and ten shillings for baggage. The 
country is well cultivated ; there are but few 
trees ; here and there a superb country seat, and 
a great number of towns and villages. The 
poorer order are in a miserably wretched condi- 
tion ; their houses being but perfect hovels, with- 
out floors, and the inhabitants literally half naked ; 
most of them, especially the children, without 
shoes or stockings, and all in rags, distressing to 
a feeling mind to behold. Whenever the coach 
stopped, they surrounded it, begging for money ; 
and it may truly be said, that the Irish are 
either rolling in gold or in mud. I stayed so short 
a time in Dublin, that I did not think it worth 
while to deliver any introductory letters I had by 
me. All the persons I did see, were civil and obli- 
ging, I got into Cork on Thursday, the 5th of 
April, at nine o'clock in the morning, but the 
Courts, there called Assizes, were sitting, which 



rapelje's narrative. 61 

bring numbers of people from all parts of the 
comitry. I could not get a bed at any of the 
hotels. I was recommended to the Commercial, 
as the best ; so I had to take private lodgings at 
Miss Fennon's. I had to pay for a neat parlor 
and bed-room on the first floor, a guinea and a half 
a week. I found them very civil; and, having 
travelled all night, I retired to rest at an early 
hour. 

Mr. Mark, the American Consul, called on me, 
and showed me great civility. He lived in Rut- 
land-street, in a hospitable manner ; he had a wife 
and five children ; and I went with him in a steam- 
boat down the river Lea to the Cove of Cork, a 
distance of about seven miles. The country and 
seats on each side of the river are beautiful. I 
saw Lakelands and Black Rock, the seat of my 
wife's late uncle, Benjamin Bousfield, at that time 
occupied by Mr. Crawford. It consisted of about 
ninety-one acres ; an elegant country place. 
While at the Cove, I went with Mr. Mark to pay 
a visit to Mrs. Connor, a relation of Mr. Bousfield. 
She resided at a small place, highly improved, 
with perfect neatness, and a great deal of taste ; 
it was situated exactly opposite to the entrance of 
the harbor, of which it had a fine view. We 
returned to Cork in a hack jingle, or jaunting 
car, with one horse, having a boy to drive ; and I 
dined and drank tea with Mr. Mark. 

My boarding and lodging cost me a guinea a 



62 



RAPELJE S NARRATIVE. 



week. There is a delightful walk, called the 
Dyke, a mile long, being an interval level on the 
west skirts of the city — the river Lea on each 
side, where fine salmon are caught in wears set 
from the stream. On Saturday, I saw a large 
man, called the American Giant, seven feet nine 
inches high, and large in proportion, who exhi- 
bited himself for a show : but most people, as well 
as myself, thought he was from the north of 
Ireland. On Sunday, the 15th, I went to St. 
Paul's with Mr. Knapp and his son. On Monday, 
the 16th, I walked on the Dyke, and saw a boy 
catch some very fine trout. I bought them, and 
had them for dinner at the boarding-house. On 
Tuesday, the 17th, I met at Mr. Beecher's. The 
Bishop of Cork also called and left his card. 

On Wednesday, I went with Mr. Mark to St. 
Bury's Cathedral to hear service, it being Lent, 
and afterwards returned the Bishop of Cork's visit, 
whose family name was St. Lawrence. He had 
a beautiful place a short distance from the chiu'ch. 
On Thursday, the 19th, I went at eight o'- 
clock in the morning, in a diligence, to Liishonan, 
thirteen miles from Cork, and from thence to 
Shippoole, about a mile and a half to Mr, Wil- 
liam Henry Herrick's, Mrs. Rapelje's cousin, he 
having written me a polite invitation to come 
and spend the remainder of the time I had to 
spare with him. I staid only one day with him. 
It was a beautiful situation on the small river 



rapelje's narrative. 63 

Bandon, highly improved and cultivated, con- 
sisting of about three hundred acres, and every 
thing in fine order, and the house well furnished. 
His w^ife was a Miss Delacour ; I saw a Miss Bea- 
mish there. The family is ancient. Herrick 
Castle, built about six hundred years ago, is still 
standing near the river Bandon. I found that 
several fields were never ploughed, but mow- 
ed, and not afterwards fed. I took leave in the 
evening, in order to get the early morning coach, 
and walked to Inncshannon, which I left the 
next morning in a one-horse stage, called a jin- 
gle, which held four passengers, set face to face, 
and disagreeable enough it was to be sure. How- 
ever, I got back to Cork about ten o'clock, 
and went to St. Bury's church with Mr. Mark, it 
being Good Friday, where a Mr. Quarry preached 
an extempore sermon. The next day I went at 
eleven, to take a French lesson of Mr. Beecot, and 
wrote a letter in answer to Mrs. Bousfield's invita- 
tion, and sent it by post, saying I would spend ojie 
day on the following Tuesday. 

On Tuesday, the 22d, I went in the morning 
to St. Peter's church, where I heard Archdeacon 
Thompson preach, and was much delighted with 
a boy's excellent singing. I dined and drank tea 
with Mr. Jacob Mark, who was remarkably 
kind and attentive ; after dinner we hired a gig, 
and drove round Lakelands, the Bousfield estate, 
altogether supposed to be two thousand acres. 



64 rapelje's narrative. 

Monday, I saw a fine parade of about six hun- 
dred soldiers, the Scotch Highlanders, with kelts 
and no small clothes, their bare legs and knees 
exposed ; and dined at six o'clock with the Hon. 
and Rt. Rev. Lord Bishop of Cork, with his wife 
and her sister, and two unmarried daughters, (the 
younger a very fine, charming girl,) his two sons, 
a son in-law, Mr. Beaufort, and two Misses Stew- 
arts. The next day I rode on horseback with 
Miss Beamish, Miss Ross, Mrs. Rickson, and Mrs. 
Kampice, down ridge road to Waterstown and 
Buttontown, about four miles. The views of 
Black Rock and Lakelands were beautiful. 

On Wednesday, the 25th, I went to see Mrs. 
Bousfield, who resided at her sister's, Mrs. Creagh, 
whose place is called Laurentinium, and is about 
a mile and a half from the town of Doneraile, the 
whole of which is the property of Lord Doneraile, 
who has a most elegant mansion and highly im- 
proved domain adjoining it. Mr. Creagh's son 
came in a chariot for me to the place where the 
coach stopped, and conveyed me to his father's, 
whom I found a pleasant, mild gentleman, com- 
plaining somewhat of the gout, and his wife, a 
charming, fine old lady, and so was Mrs. Bous- 
field. The sisters were much alike, both in man- 
ners and appearance, amiable, and perfectly gen- 
teel and elegant in dress as well as conversation, 
though somewhere about seventy years of age. 
They received me with respect, urbanity, and 



rapelje's narrative. 65 

affection. Mr. Creagh lived extremely well, al- 
tliough there were only his own family ; a clergy- 
man, John, his son, living near at Mallow, a large 
grown man — he called him " his big son" I believe 
about forty-five years of age ; his other single son, 
Arthur, a married daughter, Mrs. Stodder, whose 
husband was not there, a Captain and Mrs. Davis, 
who was step-sister to Mr. William Henry Her- 
rick, but who came in for no part of the Bousfield 
estate, as her mother was not a Bousfield ; she was 
the daughter of Herricks by a second wife. Capt. 
Davis I found to be quite pleasant and agreeable, 
as indeed they all were ; and they, as well as all 
the society I had been in, appeared to be pleased 
with my humble efforts to afford them what little 
information I could about the United States, and 
allowed me every indulgence. Mr. Creagh lived 
quite in the style of a nobleman, and at the inn 
where I stopped, the landlord said he understood 
quite equal, and entertained more than Lord Do- 
noraile, whose income, they said, was ten thousand 
guineas ^jer an7nim^ and Mr. Creagh's about /oitr 
thousand. In this family they dressed for dinner, 
as for a party, having five servants at their family 
dinner in livery. I got there at twelve o'clock ; 
at two had a lunch ; and dinner at six, which was 
neat and well served ; a fore quarter of mutton, 
chickens, salmon, calf's head, mock turtle made of 
hares; a very fine dish of forced meats; stewed 
ham, and young cucumbers, brocala, &c. &c., 
9 



66 rapelje's narrative. 

with port, sherry, and other kinds of wines, with 
their old Irish fashion of the boiling silver tea- 
kettle of hot water for whiskey punch, or rather 
toddy, after dinner. Mr. Creagh's place is very 
handsome, and laid out in fine taste, as almost all 
the Irish places are ; his stables and carriage 
houses occupied about two hundred feet, directly 
in the rear of his dwelling, behind which was a 
very large garden ; a beautiful rivulet of water, 
in the front of his house, which they called a river, 
— it might be a dozen or fifteen feet wide. Mrs. 
Bousfield and her sister were not very tall, but of 
middle size, and rather corpulent ; with fine com- 
plexions, having quite a bloom upon their cheeks, 
and quite as good looking as any ladies of their 
age I ever saw, and must have been quite hand- 
some when young. It was said that the three sis- 
ters were called the Three Graces of Cork. 

I intended to stay only one day, therefore re- 
turned to Doneraile, and took the coach for Cork, 
paid for my passage inside ten and six pence ster- 
ling, for a distance of twenty-five miles. When I 
reached Mallow, I got on the outside, to see the 
country, which was beautiful about Doneraile and 
Mallow, and for a few miles farther, after which 
it is a light, poor soil. The country is somewhat 
hilly, but not abruptly so, gently declining and 
rising ; but these they call mountains. A fine road 
is made to Cork, over valleys, where are runs of 
water underneath ; and they have raised walls and 



rapelje's narrative. 67 

arches to make bridges over them, of great height, 
some nearly a hundred feet, — and also on a side- 
hill, have, for miles, built a v^all of twenty feet 
high, so as to form a good road, nearly level ; so 
much so, that the horses kept on a constant trot 
the whole way, with five passengers inside and five 
out. But nothing material occurred. There was 
a slight drizzly rain. On the 28th I took a ride on 
horseback, to visit Mr. Beecher, on the Black-rock 
road ; and returning, went over Parliament bridge, 
up a very high hill, to see the Barracks, from 
which there is a fine view of the city. 

On Sunday, the 29th, I went to church at the 
Foundling Hospital, with young Mr. Knapp, one of 
our boarders, where a band of music accompanied 
the children's singing, of whom there are many 
hundreds. The buildings, for they are extensive, 
form a large square in the centre. Afterwards 
I took a view of the Catholic church, which I 
found very plain and quite common within, as 
they told me they all were. I then paid the 
Bishop's family a visit. 

On Monday, the 30th, I went to see the Fire- 
Lady, who, to appearance, pours melted lead into 
her mouth, stamps on red-hot iron, and draws it 
over her head, hair, and feet. How the deception 
was managed I know not. 

On Tuesday, the 1st of May, I went in company 
with Mr. and Mrs. Mark, to Mr. Pike's, the banker, 
who lived between North main-street and Ham- 



68 rapelje's narrative. 

mond's Marsh. He was very opulent. I saw his 
daughter, and son, (quite a boy) ; he had another 
daughter, but she was from home. We had some 
very fine salmon, with which this place abounds 
all the year round. They are taken^ 9.S I said 
before, in the river Lea, which runs through the 
city in two branches, just above and below, by 
wears and nets. The mutton was particularly 
fine ; and I partook of some that had been reared 
on part of Lakelands, a part of my wife's estate, 
of which Mr. Pike occupies about sixty acres, as 
his country residence. The next morning I break- 
fasted with him, by his own invitation. He was 
a widower and a Quaker, and lived very com- 
fortable and well, but without show or parade. 
He took me through the market, where there were 
several kinds of flat fish, like our flounders. One 
is called plaice, with small, light-red colored spots 
all over their backs and tails ; they make excel- 
lent pan fish; and three or four other kinds, of 
exactly the same shape of flounders, but of diff'er- 
ent sizes, white under their bellies, and brown on 
their backs. 

On Thursday, the 3d, I bought Mrs. Rapelje 
two tabinot dresses, and a gauze dress; also a 
piece of the finest linen I could get in Cork, with 
a dozen pair of gloves, six of real Limerick, and 
six others, colored ; and sent them by a Mr. Tho- 
mas Powers, going to Dublin, and from thence in 
Capt. Duplex's ship, which was to sail for New- 



rapelje's narrative. 69 

York on Sunday. I visited the Ursiiline Convent, 
which is kept in very neat order, in Cork, where 
the children are taught different branches of edu- 
cation. 

On Friday, the 4th, I went to see Mr. Knapp, a 
fellow-boarder, who held the oiSice of tide-waiter 
at the custom-house, the whole of which he showed 
me. All goods imported must first be brought 
here, and lodged in the stores, and the duties paid 
as they are taken away. There are extensive 
stores, rooms, and vaults. I took an early dinner 
with Mr. Pike, the banker, and with his two 
daughters accompanied him in his curricle, which 
he himself drove, to his place at Black-rock, on 
Lakelands. It was a very pretty place, adjoining 
the water, which was by him highly improved, 
although the house was not very good. 

The Saturday, being rainy most of the day, I 
could only take a short walk with Mr. Knapp, Miss 
O'Neil, and Miss Power, and her sister, to see Mrs. 
Knapp's brother, on the Passage road, about a mile 
from the city. Mrs. Knapp I found very pleasant 
and agreeable, and so was Mrs. O'Neil's sister. 

On Sunday, May 6th, I went with Mr. Knapp 
and his son, at ten o'clock in the morning, in a 
steam-boat to the Cove, and from thence paid a 
visit to Mrs. Connor, a niece to Mrs. Bousfield ; 
to visit whom she went with us about four miles. 
Mrs. Bousfield had moved for the summer to 
.L place called East Grove, the property of her 



70 rapelje's narrative. 

nephew, the Hon. C. Bagwell, then a member of 
Parliament. It is a beautiful cottage, near the 
river that flows past it. There is a round tower he 
built at one side of the cottage, which is thirty feet 
in diameter ; making a handsome drawing-room, 
and a good bed-room above it ; and which, it was 
said, was built to shelter the cottage, which is 
very neat, and prettily furnished, and the grounds 
well and tastefully laid out, and kept in order. 
Mr. Arthur Creagh was staying with Mrs. Bous- 
field. I remained there that night, and slept in 
the bed-room in the circular tower ; a neat, square 
room, with a dressing-room, both overlooking the 
river. All genteel person's houses have bed-rooms 
well furnished, and dressing-rooms also. A servant 
comes every morning, taking your clothes to brush, 
and your boots to clean, without the trouble of 
ordering them ; brings you hot water to shave, 
and inquires if he can do any timig for you ? All 
which shows civility and urbanity of disposition. 
When going out, he takes your great coat or sur- 
tout, holding it for you to put on ; and many such 
little services and attentions. After dinner, just 
having finished a piece of plumb pudding, I had 
a severe dead pain at the pit of my stomach, and 
felt very deadly sick and faint, and was obliged to 
leave the table. Mr. Knapp and Mr. A. Creagh led 
me out into the cool air ; I sat down on a bench, 
and entirely fainted away. It was as if death had 
taken possession of mc. Every thing appeared 



rapelje's narrative. 71 

green and blue before me ; and I felt truly as if 
the sleep of the grave was coming on me, and I 
suppose in reality, like those who die, my thoughts 
were concentrated on my dear wife, while I could 
think. I had fainted for about a minute, when I 
was relieved. I took with my dinner very mode- 
rately of wine, not above a glass and a half; I ate 
some asparagus after the meat, as they served up 
that and also artichokes, as a desert ; the latter of 
which I did not taste. I had taken a great deal 
of exercise in the morning, and had taken no lunch 
as I usually did, when they dined so late. I sat 
also with my back to the fire; but cannot tell 
what it was ; I drank only Madeira, besides a glass 
of beer. I began with soup, just tasted fish, and 
ate a slice of roast beef with potatoes and cauli- 
flower. However, I soon got over it, and went 
again to the table, and felt no more of it. 

The next day, Monday the 7th, it rained all 
the day, with wind. I read and conversed at this 
East Grove cottage, which is really in that style, 
with the exception of the tower ; it had a thick 
thatched roof, the floor even with the ground, low 
ceilings, not more than nine feet high ; the rooms 
small and neat, with roses, myrtle, &c. &c., twin- 
ing on the wall and on rough lattices about it ; 
the windows in the French style, opening on hin- 
ges down to the ground ; a small shed over, quite 
low, called virandas, and small twigs or branches 
wove along the eaves of the shed. The gravel 



72 rapelje's narrative. 

walks were good, as well as all the others, and 
were quite close to the house. The grass lawns 
were kept cut constantly once a week, and swept 
by women, and rolled with a stone roller; the 
edges along the ground walks are gone over by 
hand, and the projecting and straggling roots 
plucked out ; in short, nothing could exceed the 
neatness in these grounds ; then all along many 
of the walks, were borders of tulips, hyacinths, 
blue water lilies of America, and numberless other 
flowers and shrubs, which they take much pains 
to plant, keep clean, and propagate to the great- 
est perfection ; and the domain is inclosed by 
gardens and very high stone walls. The rain 
prevented my going out the whole day. 

On Tuesday, May 8th, after breakfast I went 
to the Cove in a jingle of Mrs. Bousfield's. At 
the Cove I got another jingle, came on to Pas- 
sage, crossed over, took another, and got into 
Cork about half past four o'clock, and found we 
had a new lodger, called Miss Gloster, from Lim- 
erick. She was about thirty-five years of age. 

On Wednesday, the 9th, I rode on horseback 
to Blarney, and visited the old Castle. It is 
very high, having one hundred steps to the top. 
It is the largest I had seen, and square, say, 
forty by thirty. It is in a small level valley, 
with a beautiful meandering stream, called Blar- 
ney river. The town is quite small, about four 
miles and a half from Cork. I went in company 



rapelje's narrative. 73 

with Miss Ross, who kept our boarding-house, and 
Mrs. Richson, who both rode very well, and at 
a great rate when they were so inclined. The 
place belongs to a Mr. Jefferies ; but it was going 
to decay, and the grounds out of order. An ever- 
green, called ivy, runs over part of the Castle, 
especially the belfry and another building ; and 
indeed over most of the old buildings through 
the country. The next day, Thursday, I paid a 
morning visit to Mr. Lionel Beecher ; and on Fri- 
day, the 11th, went to the Botanic Garden, about 
a mile and a half. It was kept in excellent 
order, and had a great collection of rare, new, 
and curious trees, plants, flowers, vines, &c. I 
afterwards took tea at Mr. Jacob Mark's, who 
had five fine children. His oldest daughter, Agnes, 
about twelve ; Ann, ten ; John, about nine ; and 
twins, nineteen months. 

On Saturday, the 12th, after breakfasting with 
Mr. Pike, I read the newspapers at the Commer- 
cial Hotel. 

On Sunday, the 13th, I dined and drank tea 
with Mr. Mark. It rained the whole forenoon ; 
but I paid Miss Beecher a visit, and took leave. 

Monday, the 14th, I took leave of Mr. Lionel 
Beecher and family ; of Mr. Mark and the Bishop 
of Cork in the evening, who had paid me a visit 
in the forenoon, as I intended to take passage 
the next day for Bristol. 

10 



T4 rapelje's narrative. 

On Tuesday, the 15th, I took leave of my fel- 
low boarders, who declared that they were very 
sorry to part with me, and I with them ; for 
the five weeks I had been at Miss Ross's, I had 
found them all very pleasant and agreeable. At 
four o'clock, I set off in the Bousford packet vessel 
for Bristol, Capt. Cobblestone, and had a fine fair 
wind, with four cabin passengers ; the ladies were, 
a Miss Gibbs, Mrs. Gilmore, two others, and a num- 
ber of poor Irish, steerage passengers. Wednesday 
was a fine clear day. We had run in the night at 
the rate of six knots an hour, and about that all 
the day. The vessel, though small, had good 
accommodations for her size ; twelve berths in 
the cabin, and four athwart ship, against the fore- 
ward bulk-head. The poor Irish steerage pas- 
sengers were very filthy, both men and women ; 
the common passengers were so numerous that I 
could not walk a step on deck. 

On Thursday, the 17th, we got up the river 
Avon, which is very narrow, to a place called Pill, 
about four miles and a half below Bristol. I went 
on shore and got a hackney carriage, or kind of 
stage. The owner, after telling me that I could 
have it to take myself and another passenger up 
for half a guinea, wanted to fill it, and charge the 
others only two shillings and six pence a-piece. 
This was the first gross imposition I met with. I 
stopped at Reeves's Hotel, just out of College 



rapelje's narrative. 75 

Green. I immediately wrote a letter to my wife, 
and sent it by a ship going to New- York, and be- 
longing to the Messrs. Rowlands. 

On Friday, the 18th, I took tea at Mrs. Bar- 
ton's, at Clifton Royal Crescent, a cousin of Mrs. 
Rapeljes, whose mother was a BoiLsfield. She had 
one daughter with her ; and had other children, 
but they were away. I saw there a Miss Van 
Devoust, sister of Mrs. Van Devoust of Charleston ; 
there was no one else. Miss Van Devoust was a 
very large fat lady, about forty; very sensible? 
pleasant, and agreeable. I found Mrs. Barton a 
fine sensible woman, say, forty-four or fifty ; her 
daughter, a mild, amiable girl, about twenty-five ; 
but appeared very delicate. Clifton is very de- 
lightfully situated ; has a fine view of the Avon 
river and valley about it ; though I should not like 
to live there. The roads and streets to Bristol 
are so steep, as makes it painful to go up or down. 
I liked Bristol as little as I did before ; the streets 
are narrow, crooked, and dirty, and low along the 
Avon. The cathedral, formerly a monastery or 
nunnery, now called College Cathedral, was built 
in 1140, about seven hundred years ago, and is a 
beautiful specimen of Gothic architecture, with 
painted windows, the colors of which are quite 
perfect to this day. It is very large, and has 
some fine tablets and monuments around on the 
walls ; the ceiling is Gothic, in compartments, and 
carved out of solid stone. The church throu<2fhout 



76 

is remarkable for being better lighted than any in 
the kingdom. 

I must here relate a curious circumstance of 
my being near to have been taken in. While 
the person, who was an officer, above a sexton, 
was showing me the church, two decently dressed 
women came in, one quite handsome, in black 
silk, the other in a brown cloth habit ; both really 
appeared quite modest and as ladies who attended 
this church ; for one observed to the gentleman 
describing the church, that " this was the place 
she sat in every Sunday," and said, " the sexton 
had not placed the rug for her feet in the pew," 
&c. I concluded they must be religious ladies 
of decent families in Bristol. With the gentle- 
man who showed the church, they got into conver- 
sation, they and he alternately describing the dif- 
ferent things there ; and, in going out, upon my first 
inquiring of them what curiosities there were to 
be seen in Bristol, they asked me if I had seen the 
Armory ? They having described several curious 
colors, &c. to be seen there, I requested them to 
accompany me. As it was a distance of two 
miles, I took a coach, and away we went. But 
nothing was there to be seen but a large armory 
without guns, and a fine garden. By this time I 
found who they were, but was not completely 
gulled, for I got home from Mrs. Barton's early in 
the evening in safety. 

On Saturday, the 19th, I w^alked to see Bristol 



rapelje's narrative. 77 

Hot Wells, situate on the river Avon, near Clif- 
ton. Clifton is on a high hill, and these wells are 
in a valley. The river Avon is very narrow, and 
the tide rises so high, and falls so low, that at low 
water mark, there is no water in the river, and 
ships cannot come or go ; and when the tide is in, 
they are obliged to be towed in and out by boats. 
I went to see Capt. John Keaquick, with whom I 
stayed and dined, and took tea. He lives at Upper 
Easton, about a mile and a half from Bristol ; he 
was very affectionate, and wanted me to come and 
bring my baggage, and stay with him. He had a 
very amiable wife and three daughters ; his oldest, 
Ann, about seventeen, a tall, handsome girl, indeed 
beautiful, of a delicate person, and sweet face and 
complexion. This was a daughter by a former 
wife, sister to the present one ; two younger ones, 
eleven and nine, both fine, sensible girls ; and his 
wife, a handsome, fine figure, and well informed. 
A Mr. Flaxman of the custom-house, and Mr. Ben- 
niman, dined with him. On Sunday, I rode with 
Capt. Keaquick and his family to Enbury, and 
went to church ; afterwards walked through Lord 
de Clifford's park, and ascended a hill that over- 
looks the country, which was beautiful and mag- 
nificent; we also saw the river Avon where it 
empties itself; we now returned to dinner. 

On Monday, the 21st, I went to see the patent 
oil-cloth manufactory, and saw the way it was 
laid on with colors and w ith blocks ; and after- 



78 

wards dined with Capt. Keaquick, with whom I 
took a walk, to see the canal and locks ; I then 
made him take a lunch with me at my lodgings ; 
and he returned home. I then paid a visit to Mrs. 
Barter, at the Royal Crescent, and then returned 
and dined with the captain, with whom I also took 
tea. I returned in the evening at half past nine, 
and went to the theatre for an hour ; a handsome 
house, but quite deserted, not above a dozen or 
two in the boxes. 

On Tuesday, the 22d, I wrote a letter to my 
mother, and gave it to Capt. Keaquick, to forward 
by the first ship. I then set off in a coach at half 
past nine, for Bath, a distance of about twelve 
miles, and got there by twelve. The country by 
the road is delightful, surrounded by a number 
of country seats. The road was covered with 
coaches, full of passengers, to and from Bristol 
and Bath ; they start every hour in the day. I 
was at first put down at the Golden Lion, a com- 
mon tavern ; but although reckoned in that 
country common, the parlors were neatly fur- 
nished with Brussels carpets, and bed-rooms (as 
they all are in England, in decent public houses,) 
well furnished, with good beds, and always with 
curtains. However, in the evening, I went to Mr. 
Strata's boarding house, on the south parade, but 
a short distance from the bath and pump room. 
The price of boarding was two guineas and a 
half a week. There was another house, and said 



rapelje's narrative, 79 

to be better, at three guineas, called the Queen- 
square, — but that was full. I met here a Mrs. 
Osborne and niece. Miss McShane, Capt. Lely, 
Mr. Castle, Mr. Gallon, and Capt. Stiles. 

On Wednesday, the 23d, I went at seven 
o'clock, and took a bathing at the King's Bath. 
I had inquired the day before, if they would 
permit me to swim, which I was very fond of ; 
and such a beautiful pond, and the water so de- 
lightful and tepid. They told me if I would 
come early in the morning, before any one came, 
I might have a swim ; but must quit the moment 
any one came. I went accordingly, quite early, 
before any company was there, and had a delight- 
ful bath. The water is really pleasantly warm, 
near where you see it boil up ; in the middle of 
the pond, if you happen to get your foot on one of 
the holes where the water comes through, it is 
uncomfortably warm. The water is delicious. 
Every thing is prepared in the greatest comfort ; 
a small room with a fire ; a man waiting to assist 
in putting on a bathing gown, which they have 
ready when you come out ; your clothes are hung 
round the fire airing, as stockings, shirt, drawers, 
and flannels. The water is quite warm and de- 
lightful, and is an astringent ; they take only a 
tumbler or two at a time. The .season for company 
was over when I reached Bath, the fashionable 
people having left ; for winter is the season. 

On Thursday, the 24th, I walked up to Beechou 



80 rapelje's narrative. 

Cliff, on the other side of the river Avon, a high 
hill, overlooking the city of Bath, and a delightful 
view there is of it, and valley around. As for the 
city itself, a great, or very extensive prospect 
cannot be had ; for Bath lies in a valley, sur- 
rounded by hills, of w^hich this is one, and ap- 
pears the highest ; the prospect is indeed enchant- 
ing. I then came down and went along the 
Avon, and on the Bath side. At about half a 
mile, is the place where the gas is prepared for 
lighting the city, and which was brilliantly lighted 
with it ; I also went through a turnpike gate, 
where there is a patent weighing machine. It is 
an iron platform, even or level with the road ; 
and in the centre of the road, where carriages 
drive on, and by an arm like a steelyard, placed 
within a small building along side the road, and 
by some means conveyed to this moveable plat- 
form, which rises and lowers a few inches, and 
constantly keeping on a level, the weight is ascer- 
tained. I then took a long walk in front of and 
below the Royal Crescent, which indeed nothing 
could surpass ; the form gives its name, where are 
about forty houses, all built of stone, ornamented 
in front by circular pilasters, and every house re- 
sembling each other. It is indeed superior to any 
thing I have yet seen as to grandeur and magnifi- 
cence of situation, and structure, and imposing 
elegance. Bath is delightfully situated ; the vari- 
ety of aspects from walks and gardens in front of 



rapelje's narrative. 81 

the Crescent, and then to the circus, which is 
about seven hundred feet in diameter, built up 
with houses of an exact size, shape, &c. Four 
elegant streets are also built up, with handsome 
stone houses. If you go down Queen-square, 
next the gay streets of shops, you find a diversity 
from almost royal splendor, to city bustle ; meet- 
ing all the gayety, show, and fashion of England, 
with variety from the chimney-sweeper to the 
most elevated rank ; and decorated in all the 
style, fashion, and elegance imaginable ; also the 
splendid equipages, &c., in constant motion at the 
fashionable houses from one to four ; then to the 
pump-room, which is very large and handsome, 
where there is music from half past one, till three 
every day. When the place is full of visitors, 
there is always a full band ; but when I was 
there, there were only three violins accompanied 
by a harp, which is sweet and soft. Here the 
waters are drank, which are quite warm and soft. 
Common spring or pump water, of the same heat, 
would instantly cause sickness, which was my 
fear at first swallowing. And here the ladies and 
gentlemen' promenade, sit, or take a glass of these 
Lethean waters, to wash away care. All here are 
genteel in manners, but free and easy. There the 
company promenade through some of the small 
courts, or rather narrow passages, which are all 
flagged across, and which lead to Great Pultney- 
11 



82, rapelje's narrative. 

street, which is very wide, and built up with ele- 
gant houses. At its extremity, and facing it, are 
Sidney Gardens, of about sixteen acres, beautifully 
laid out, with cascades of water, rivulets, &c. &c., 
covered with shrubs, trees, flowers, &c. ; and a 
sweet, soft, elegant band of music, playing from 
two till half past four ; while ladies and gentle- 
men in their gay and elegant dresses promenade 
to and fro, in this enchanting Elysium ; nurses, 
also, well dressed, with children, to take the pure 
air. Here are Merlin's swings, labyrinths, &c, I 
also went to see a new church, of beautiful Gothic 
architecture, which seemed to be the prevailing 
style in all the buildings recently put up, from the 
hut to the palace. This is called Bathwick new 
church, and is the most chaste, beautiful building 
I have seen. 

On Friday, the 25th, I walked out to a clergy- 
man's place, in the cottage style, a Rev. Mr. War- 
ner's, to see bees raised in a new kind of straw 
hive, called the Hidsh hive. I found Mrs. War- 
ner an amiable, pleasing, and agreeable lady, 
about twenty-five years of age, with a sweet an- 
gelic face. The house appears a cabinet of lite- 
rature, and museum of fossils, shells, &c. I saw 
the bees in the new straw hive, but did not ad- 
mire the plan ; the combs are intended to be sepa- 
rated by cross-bars from the top of the hive, and 
the bees can as well build across as lengthwise 



rapelje's narrative. 83 

of the strips, which, I was told, was the case ; the 
situation is beautiful, called Hanging Lands, and 
has a fine view of the city of Bath. 

On Saturday, the 26th, I walked before break- 
fast to another elevation, called Beacon-hill, and 
had a fine view of Bath ; then to the Upper Cres- 
cent, and through St. James's-square, where all 
were handsome and elegant houses. I drank the 
waters, as I did every day before breakfast and 
dinner, two or three tumblers, and found they 
corrected my stomach, gave a great appetite, and 
mellowed down the system. In the evening, I 
went to the theatre, which was very beautiful. 

I went on Sunday, the 27th, to the Abbey 
church, which is near the bath ; the ceiling is very 
high and arched ; one window towards the grove 
is very large, say forty feet high, and twenty 
wide, and has about twelve thousand panes of 
small glass, put in lead, the old fashioned way, 
and stained of different colors ; it is, say, twenty 
feet from the floor to the sill of the window. 
After church, the people walk in crowds, (or lots 
of them, as the English say,) from two o'clock 
till five, and in the evening from seven till ten 
o'clock. At this season of the year, there is very 
little night; it is not dark till half past nine, 
and light again at half past two in the morning. 

On Monday, the 28th, I took a warm bath 
in the public bath. The water was one hundred 
and sixteen degrees of heat, which was quite pleas- 



84 rapelje's narrative. 

ant; and the waters, although warm, are bracing. 
I had a swnn ; the depth of the water was four 
feet ; and a very extensive pond it is, surrounded 
by lofty houses, and the whole pond smokes like 
boiling water. 

On Tuesday, the 29th, I took an outside seat 
next the driver, to go to Cheltenham, fifty-two 
miles from Bath. We went by Crosshands village, 
twelve miles. Petty France, four miles, and Dun- 
kirk. I saw the Duke of Beaufort's park, called 
Badminston ; it is very large, being fourteen miles 
round. I also passed through Roxbury village, 
which is four miles from Bath, and in Somerset- 
shire. We then came into Gloucestershire, where 
the country is highly improved. We changed 
horses, which were very fine, once in sixteen 
miles ; the harnesses of bright fine brass, and kept 
in the best order. We went through Stronductor, 
Horsley, and Nailsworth, all in Rodboro bottom, a 
fine interval for twenty miles, where were a num- 
ber of cloth factories ; passed Lane's cross, Hanes- 
wick, Shroud, and Horsepool ; saw the Severn ; 
and, from the hills, before descending the valley 
of Gloucester, saw Monmouthshire and part of 
Brecknockshire ; passed through Gloucester, nine 
miles from Cheltenham, where we arrived about 
four in the afternoon, and I put up at Mr. Fisher's 
boarding house. 

On Wednesday, the 30tli, I walked to several 
places, and found Chcltenliam a fine, livclv, im- 



rapelje's narrative. 85 

proving place ; the waters are exactly like a dose 
of salts. There was music every morning from 
eight till ten at the springs, w^here numbers of ele- 
gantly dressed ladies and gentlemen walk in the 
gardens that surround them. They come to this 
place for health and pleasure, from all parts ; and 
it was supposed there were many thousand there 
of first fashion, show, and fortune. Fisher's was 
reckoned the best boarding-house ; he had also an 
hotel, the families residing in which, had their se- 
parate apartments and tables. At our table, sat 
down about thirty ; I was stationed next to a Mr. 
Clark, from the neighborhood of London, a very 
pleasant, conversible, plain man ; also Mr. and 
Mrs. Burroughs, Mr. Prior, a young gentleman, and 
Mr. Stubbins, of Queen's County, Ireland ; all of 
whom were very pleasant and agreeable ; the rest 
appeared stiff and formal. Just opposite to me, 
sat Sir Grenville Temple ; but as I knew him only 
by hearsay, and was never introduced to him in 
America, I thought, in his own country, he might 
address me first ; so I said nothing to him, as I 
took it for granted he must have known me, as 
there was a book in which each one entered his 
name, and which is always looked over by all 
the boarders. 

Thursday, the 31st. — Being anxious to get on 
to France, I took my passage for the next day by 
coach to London. I delivered Mrs. Mark's letter 
to her sister, Mrs. Frankland ; she was at Mrs. 



I 



So RAPELJE S NARRATIVE. 

Sheldon's, at Swondon, two miles and a half 
from Cheltenham, where I went in a jingle. I 
was called on by Mr. Cole, Mr. Knapp's friend, 
who gave me a letter to him ; also by Mr. Mar- 
shall, master of the ceremonies ; I returned the 
visits, and took leave. 

Friday, June 1st. — I left Cheltenham at eight 
o'clock in the morning, and arrived in London 
about the same hour in the evening. I went to 
several hotels and lodging houses, but could not 
get a bed ; they were all full on account of Par- 
liament setting, but at last got a bed at the Mount 
Coffee House, in Grosvenor-street, a few doors 
from Bond-street. The country from Cheltenham 
to London is very pleasant, and in high cultiva- 
tion ; came through several towns, and the city of 
Oxford. 

Saturday, June 2d. — I found London very much 
improved in buildings, new streets, squares, &c. 
I went down the Thames in a small boat, and 
saw the new bridges, the Waterloo, of stone, and 
the Southwark of cast-iron, the centre arch of 
which is two hundred feet span. I then went to 
the post-office, where I met Mr. Alexander Bucha- 
nan, the British consul's brother at New- York, 
and walked with him ; then went to see an exhi- 
bition of the Royal Society's paintings, where 
there were a great number of ladies. The paint- 
ings were numerous, and no doubt good; but 
being no judge, I could not decide ; some I thought 



87 

excellent. In the evening I went alone to the 
Opera House, which was crowded with a show of 
ladies in the boxes, pit, and gallery. The house 
was splendid and magnificent, and for a public ex- 
hibition beyond any thing I had ever seen, — six 
rows of boxes all trimmed with red silk or damask 
curtains, — the ladies and gentlemen all in full 
dress, no boots. The house is about two hundred 
and thirty feet in diameter ; and it was impossible 
to distinguish the features of those who were on the 
other side. The stage is large, with splendid sce- 
nery ; the women beautiful, singing fine, and all in 
Italian ; very few of the frequenters understood it. 
I inquired of several the names of the dancers and 
singers, but they knew them not. 

On Sunday, June 3d, I went to the King's 
Chapel, St. James's, where I paid first a shilling to 
the man at the door to let me in, and another shil- 
ling to a man to be put in a place in the aisle, 
tosit on a kind of hassock as high as a chair, 
which he brought and put down. The chapel is 
quite small. The royal family worship there ; but 
I saw only the Duke of Clarence and the Princess 
Augusta. In the afternoon at four o'clock, took a 
barouche, and got Mr. A. Buchanan to accom- 
pany me to Hyde Park ; then walked in Ken- 
sington Gardens. They were, as I always thought 
them, superb beyond description ; the show of ele- 
gantly dressed ladies, and the great numbers pro- 



88 

menading to and fro on the beautiful walks of hard 
sand, and grass like a turkey down carpet; the 
walks so wide, so spacious, so perfect, so lengthy, 
so straight, so crooked, so every thing, intersper- 
sed with elegant shrubbery, trees, water, &c., as 
makes the Avhole enchanting. We then drove, and 
got among the carriages ; the immense number of 
which it was impossible to describe, passing each 
other in close succession, and filled with elegantly 
dressed ladies ; the horses, carriages, harness, 
coachmen, and footmen, all so superbly dressed, 
from imperial white and red to black. The ride 

^from Hyde Park corner to Oxford-street, (say a 
mile,) was a perfect close double line of carriages, 
one going and the other coming ; almost every in- 
stant there was a stoppage, so that it took nearly 

^' an hour to go one mile. The ladies appeared to 
like it; as they stop, and as they pass on, they 
view each other, which makes it a most enchant- 
ing sight. 

Monday, June 4th. — The splendor of London 
seems to raise instead of depressing the wealth. 
Every thing this globe affords seems to be centred 
in it in a magnificent manner. The shops are 
abundantly supplied with the luxuries and neces- 
saries of life, from the immense savory rounds and 
rumps, and sirloins of roast beef, meats of all kinds, 
down to vulgar wheelbarrows full of liver for dogs ; 
and from splendid diamonds to humble London 



rapelje's narrative, 89 

mud ; all is noise and uproar. I went in the 
evening to Covent Garden Theatre, which was 
splendid and well attended. 

Tuesday, June 5. — London exceeds every place. 
In the gay part of the day, which is from three to 
half past five, there are, at least, ten square miles, 
where vehicles of every description are constantly 
moving, from the splendid coach and six to the 
dirty dust cart ; and in such numbers, so crowded 
as often for miles to stop up the way. In the eve- 
ning I went to Drury-lane Theatre, in company 
with Mr. A. Buchanan, and thought it surpassed 
the other ; it was very splendid and well attended. 
I employed nearly the whole of Wednesday in see- 
ing about my passports in the city, and spent the 
evening at home at No. 4 Manchester-street, Man- 
chester-square, at Mr. Todd's boarding-house, 
where I had come on Tuesday, at three guineas a 
week. 

On Thursday, the 7th, by favor of Mr. Vaughau, 
to whom Mr. Robert Stewart gave me a letter, 
inclosing two tickets of admission to the anni- 
versary of all the free school children of the dif- 
ferent Episcopal parishes, or wards in London, 
assembled at St. Paul's Cathedral, amounting to 
about six thousand girls and boys ; they were all 
neatly and cleanly dressed, and sitting round the 
church in rows, one row above another, about 
twenty rows high ; making about forty-five feet in 
height; the whole number singing at one time 
12 



90 rapelje's narrative. 

hymns and psalms, adapted to the occasion. What 
a sublime and magnificent scene ! It filled the 
mind, heart, and soul with awful worship, which 
^s indescribable ; the grandeur of it was beyond 
imagination, I was subdued into tears, unmanned 
and unnerved ; and if the soul, thought I, was 
ever transported to heaven, it seems it must be 
in such a moment ; to see and hear six thousand 
children, the females all in white caps and aprons, 
in an instant, by a signal given, all, as if by a 
touch of inspiration, open their cherub lips to- 
gether, and shout praises to the Great Jehovah, 
and Saviour of the world ! O, England ! if thy 
sons and daughters had no other cause to rejoice, 
this scene would be sufficient ; such a sight would 
melt the savage soul to sympathy. To think on 
the prosperous state of the country, the beauties 
of heaven so abundantly showered on the nation, 
and to see so many of the rising generation receiv- 
ing the gift sujDcrior to all others, that of the 
knowledge of virtue, is enough to make you thank- 
ful for all you possess. I was accompanied by 
Mr. Todd, a gentleman at whose house I resided, 
and liad found an excellent place, under the dome, 
by the aid of a worthy young gentleman, named 
Reed, who was staying at the same house. I saw 
the Duke and Duchess of Gkiucester. 

Friday, the 8th. — I went to IMoux's Brewery, a 
very large establishment; tlic wliole machinery 
moved by a steam engine ; the vats are immense, 



rapelje's narrative. 91 

one thirty-five feet in diameter, and twenty-five 
feet high ; a reservoir of water on the top of the 
building ; a cooling tub on the fourth story or 
attic; agitated by horizontal fans. The beer is 
here about three feet deep ; the bason is over the 
whole of one side of the building, about one hun- 
dred feet long, and thirty feet wide ; and in fact 
every thing is on a large scale. I believe, since 
the bursting of a large vat, they have reduced 
them in size ; but they had an immense number. 
They were emptying twelve hundred bushels of 
malt, that had been in one brewing. In the eve- 
ning, I went to the Coburg Theatre, over the new 
Coburg bridge, in Southwark ; it is a handsome 
theatre, but the performances were very indif- 
ferent. 

On Saturday, the 9th, I saw all of West's fine 
pictures, exhibited for one shilling each person. 
The rooms have constantly a number of visitors. 
The " Rejection," and " Death on the Pale Horse," 
were the best, and very large, about thirty by 
eighteen. In the evening, I visited the Adelphi 
Theatre, where were exhibited feats of bodily 
strength, slight of hand, and rope-dancing, and 
one walking with his feet to the ceiling and head 
downwards, by his shoes being fastened to the 
ceiling. In the morning, I had walked to the 
Regent's Park, which had just been laid out and 
planted. 

Sunday, June 10th. — I went to the new Mary- 



92 rapelje's narrative. 

lebone Chapel, where I heard an appropriate ser- 
mon, it being Whitsunday ; afterwards paid Lady- 
Affleck a visit, in Clarges-street ; then walked to 
Hyde Park. The day was interspersed with 
showers, and I went to Tattersall's, where are 
always a number of horses and carriages for sale ; 
there were about two hundred gentlemen viewing 
them, with catalogues, as there is a sale every 
Monday by auction. I remained at home in the 
evening, and heard some fine music by some 
young ladies. Miss Williams, who was a boarder 
at Mr. Todd's, and Mrs. Todd's two young daugh- 
ters, and Mr. Todd's sister-in-law, Mrs. Darcy 
Todd, who, with another lady, sang and played 
in the French and Italian style most deliglitfully. 

On Monday, June 11th, I went to see a collec- 
tion of pictures, in Pall-mall, belonging to mem- 
bers of the Society of Arts, for young artists, as 
is said, to improve themselves. Several were the 
property of the King, and all by the first masters, 
as Reubens, Vandyke, Raphael, &c. In the eve- 
ning, I went to Astley's, where there were feats of 
horsemanship, and play-acting, in a common man- 
ner. 

On Tuesday, June 12th, by invitation, I break- 
fasted with Lady Affleck, Lord Holland's wife's 
mother, at twelve o'clock. I afterwards walked 
into the city, and put a letter in the post-offlce to 
Mrs. Rapelje, and dined and remained at home. 

On Wednesday, June 13th, I went with Parson 



rapelje's narrative. 93 

Reed to visit St. Luke's Hospital of female luna- 
tics, vrhere I saw a great many. I believe the 
men are in a separate place ; then to the Roman 
Catholic Chapel, in Moor Fields, where there is a 
fine painting of the Crucifixion of our Saviour on 
the Cross between tw^o thieves ; and an immense 
group in the foreground ; the ceiling is also painted ; 
also visited two libraries in the neighborhood; 
and received this day a box and package of letters 
from Mrs. Rapelje, with her picture, which was 
not much like her. In the evening the lady I lived 
with, had a small musical party. Miss Patton 
sung remarkably well. 

On Thursday, June 14th, I went with Mr. 
Todd, to Temple Bar, to see and hear the herald, 
&c. &c., proclaim that the King's coronation would 
take place on the 19th of July ; the Lord Mayor 
in his state-coach, with the sheriffs in their car- 
riages ; the ceremony of opening Temple Bar 
gate, the herald's rich dresses, the sound of trum- 
pets, and beat of drums, were all very imposing. 
The crowd was great, and loud shouts of " The 
Queen, the Queen, " &c. &c. I then visited the 
custom house, which is a fine building, and quite 
elegant ; went in a boat, or wherry. T also saw 
the West India docks, a very great convenience, 
and erected on a great scale. We then rowed 
down to Greenwich Hospital, and walked in the 
park to the top of the hill, where the Observatory 
is ; sat at the end of Greenwich Park, near Black- 



94 rapelje's narrative. 

heath Park. The chapel at the hospital is very 
elegant ; the interior, the whole door-frame, and 
columns very large, of marble, and an elegant 
stucco ceiling. We dined on white bait, a very 
small fish. In the evening, I went to a masque- 
rade at the Opera House ; a curious scene, to be 
sure, as is often described. This was but a poor 
one ; and many characters badly supported. 

On Friday, June 15th, I went out very little, I 
was so fatigued on account of the masquerade the 
night before, to which I went at half past ten, 
and stayed till five in the morning, broad day-light, 
and left an immense company there dancing, &c. 
&c. It was a curious and novel show to me. I 
went in a plain domino and mask, and walked 
about, and conversed with one and another, as you 
are privileged to speak to any one you see when 
you are masked ; any ladies will dance with you. 
There were three bands of music, and two were 
constantly playing, and no cessation to dancing. 
Women of all kinds, descriptions, and classes, as 
well as men, from perhaps the princess, to the 
sewing-gh'ls. It is quite a pleasant scene; every 
one seems pleased and agreeable ; many men in 
women's clothes, and vice versa. I made many 
believe I knew them and their wives, and wives 
their husbands. 

On Saturday, June IGth, I went to tlie city, 
and sent a letter to my wife, tliat is, left it at the 
New-England Coffee House, to go by the first ship. 



rapelje's narrative. 95 

In the evening, I stayed at home, and heard the 
ladies play and sing; Miss Hicks, an old maid, 
performed charmingly in English, and Mrs. Todd 
in French and Italian. 

On Sunday, June 17th, I went to the Chapel 
in Regent's-street, beautiful and new. 

On Monday, June 18th, I took a ride on horse- 
back tlirough the Park, and afterwards went into 
the city ; and in the evening went to a masquerade 
at the Drury-lane Theatre, which was handsome, 
and well attended, with a fine supper of meats, 
jellies, tarts, fruits, &c. &c. 

At the masquerade at old Drury, I found my- 
self among a group, as I leaned against one of the 
pillars, with my arms folded. I was, indeed, in a 
strange place. My domino was new and beauti- 
ful ; my mask small and black. One, as he pass- 
ed, would say, " Well, Sir, I know who you are ; 
we shall take care of you; you are one of the 
king's officers, to see peace and order." As I stood 
still, the group near me were joking with each 
other, and I overheard all that was said, and found 
from their conversation, that they were reputable 
people from the Strand, or Cheapside; mostly 
shop-keepers^ or merchants. The men were di- 
minutive cockneys, but the women were of respec- 
table size. I thought I would have some sport 
with them. I asked the marshal on duty, who 
they were. I knew him by his truncheon. He 
told me that they were people of good condition 



96 rapelje's narrative. 

in the city, and that the men had changed dresses 
with their wives. I took one of the ladies under 
my arm, and intimated to her that I knew her. 
She was surprised, and in turn inquired who I 
was. This I avoided. I told her that she had 
changed dresses with her husband; I know you 
all. She was astounded ; and as she left me, re- 
quested me to join her again, and permit her to 
introduce me to her party. I could not lind her 
after I had separated from her. I was determined 
to stay to supper, and took a seat, by the advice 
of Mr. Elliston, the manager, who was a very gen- 
teel man, opposite the great door, where I could 
see the company come in. Near me sat a gentle- 
man who had brought in two ladies ; the one, as I 
thought, his wife, the other his sister. Availing 
myself of the privilege of the place, the lex loci of 
a masquerade, I entered into conversation with 
the young lady. The supper was magnificent; 
all kinds of fruits from the green-house were abun- 
dant ; strawberries, grapes, pines, melons, peaches 
and plumbs, were in profusion, and were more 
delicious than any I ever ate. Nature forced in 
some instances, is sweeter than in her original 
form. The sun, through glasses, in the humid at- 
mosphere of Enghmd, ripens some classes of fruit 
better than natural heat could. 

While seated at the table, I saw two gentle- 
men from New- York, who liad taken off tlieir 
masks. I told tlic ladv with wliom 1 was conver- 



97 

sing, who these gentlemen were. The one, as she 
would see, was a handsome man, a gentleman of 
fortune, who had grown rich as an auctioneer ; the 
other in another business. I then intimated to my 
fair one, that she might have some innocent amuse- 
ment ; giving her some further particulars in regard 
to them, their modes of living, their families, and 
many other minute matters. The gentleman and 
myself drank wine together ; the lady rose and 
pursued the New- York gentlemen. She told them 
who they were, and from whence they came, al- 
though they had not been two days in London. 
I watched them while the lady was talking to 
them ; they were in a blue maze. I kept out of 
the way, for fear of being discovered. 

I now thought of changing my dress, and tak- 
ing that of a North American savage. The dress- 
master was ready for me. He gave me a pair 
of flesh-colored pantaloons, real Indian moccasins, 
a large belt and wampum, with a noble head-dress 
of feathers, with a large bow and a full quiver of 
arrows. As a great favor I was allowed to take 
the bow into the room, as all weapons were for- 
bidden. Thus equipped, like King Philip, I bound- 
ed into the room, and leaped with aboriginal elas- 
ticity from the boxes to the floor of the pit. See- 
ing tliat the statue of the king was over the stage, 
I gave a war-whoop, and drew my arrow to the 
liead, and kneeling on one knee, directed the arrow 
to the image of the king, when the cry of Hold ! 



98 rapelje's narrative. 

hold ! hold ! rung from every part of the house. 
So loyal are the people of England. I played a 
thousand fantastic freaks w^ith the ladies, keeping 
always within the bounds of delicacy. I enjoyed 
the sport to the utmost ; and no one ever discover- 
ed me in either dress. There are a thousand ways 
to kill dull care. 

On Tuesday, June 19th, I left London for 
Brighton, in the Dart coach, from Grace church- 
street, at three o'clock, and arrived at Brighton at 
eight. We went through Croyden and Ryegate; 
travelled at the rate of ten miles an hour, with 
elegant and excellent horses, and a delightfully 
fine road. Before I left London, I saw Mr. James 
Cuthbert, who had been in America. He had an 
office in the Beaufort buildings, and was willing to 
do any thing for me. I put up in Brighton at Mr. 
Brot's, on the marine parade, a boarding-house, 
for two guineas and a half a week. 

Wednesday, June 20tli. — Brighton contains 
about thirty thousand inhabitants; is beautifully 
situated on the ocean, with a fine gravel and sand 
beach. The King had a fine pavilion, but I could 
not get to see the interior ; the outside is really 
ridiculous; a number of large and small turrets, 
like large pots and kettles, and a trifling, insignifi- 
cant kind of architecture, fit for a baby-liouse. 
There were no amusements, and but little company. 

On Thursday, June 21st, I took my passage 
for Dieppe, in France, but the vessel did not go ; 



rapelje's narrative, 99 

therefore I took a seat on the outside of a coach. 



to Chichester, and was gratified with a fine view 
of the noble country around. On my return, I 
saw the King's stables, which are elegant be- 
yond any thing I ever saw. A dome lets in the 
light to a circular interior ; the outside is covered 
by a continuation of the dome, I suppose more 
than two hundred feet diameter altogether; the 
stables are all around the circle ; the stalls very 
large to all the stables. Above is a gallery all 
round, and the servant's bed-rooms. Brighton is 
a pleasant place, and is much resorted to for sea- 
bathing, and the King frequently resides there. 
The interior of the palace, called the Pavilion, is, 
they say, remarkably fine and elegant. 

On Friday, June 22d, I set oflf in a stage, at 
eight o'clock, for Portsmouth, and went through 
Shoreham, (six miles,) Hastings, (three miles,) and 
Worthing, all fine towns, and in sight of the ocean. 
Most of the distance, the water recedes a great 
way. This last is a place of bathing. I went on 
to Arundel, ten miles, on the river Avon. I went 
to see the Duke of Norfolk's castle, built more than 
a thousand years ago, and traced back to Alfred, 
the old castle ; a part is new modelled. The inte- 
rior is splendid, with fine painted windows of Solo- 
mon and the Ctueen of Sheba, and others, in a group, 
in the music, or dining-hall ; the stair-case banis- 
ters of brass, quite in a modern style ; the steps of 
marble, hand-rail of mahogany ; bedsteads of ma- 



100 rapelje's narrative. 

hogany, some double-posted, elegantly carved, with 
broad cornices, and top, or tester, of mahogany, 
all carved exquisitely fine. The library room is 
very long, v^ith elegant sculpture, all of mahoga- 
ny, taking artists years to execute ; and the bed- 
curtains of elegant figured velvet, of variegated 
colors, which have been hanging for centuries, all 
in the most superb style ; the chimney-pieces are 
fine marble. The ceiling in the banquetmg room 
is finely carved, and the hall is adorned with 
family paintings. In the old round tower there 
are owls that have been there thirty years. This 
is the castle which surrendered to Cromwell with 
a thousand prisoners. Proud as this castle is, 
the Duke prefers another residence. I saw a 
fine Cathedral at Chichester, where I dined, and 
went then to Portsmouth, eighteen miles from 
Chichester. I put up at the Fountain Inn, much 
tired. Portsmouth is fifty miles from Brighton. 
There is a great dock-yard, and fine harbor, and 
well fortified; surrounded by a wall and ditch, 
that can be filled with water all round the town. 
I felt much fatigued, and went to bed almost un- 
mediately on my arrival. 

On Saturday, June 23d, I rose early, took a 
boat and went to see the harbor, which is very 
spacious ; the shipping being an immense number 
of English ships of war, (say one hundred of dif- 
ferent sizes.) I went on board the Nelson, of one 
hundred and thirty guns, very large and fine, and 



rapelje's narrative. 101 

saw numbers of others, in appearance, quite as 
large, being three-deckers, I then went on board 
the King's royal yacht; she was most superbly 
fitted up, with a quantity of gilding all around her 
outside, and the interior beyond any thing I had 
an idea of; the elegant furniture, beds, sofas, 
mirrors, glass candle-shades, suspended, four toge- 
ther on a ball or socket ; and every thing in a 
style of royal magnificence, yet simply elegant. I 
returned to the dock-yard, which, by some, is said 
to be something superior ; but on account of my 
being an American, I could not be admitted, and 
was soured enough with the English character; 
finding them stiff, pleased in refusal to gratify, and 
glorying in their own misery, as they say, rather 
than speak to any one they do not know, or are 
introduced to, except it will ennoble them. I 
began here, and in my observations of them in 
travelling at inns and boarding-houses, to have a 
sovereign contempt and hatred to some of their 
manners. I then went in a ferry-boat over to 
Rhyde in the Isle of Wight ; but must first ob- 
serve that Portsmouth is very strong, and has for- 
tifications all around it, mounted with cannon, and 
a ditch that is very wide and large, and can be over- 
flowed in case of attack by an enemy. It is quite 
a large town. Rhyde is but small. I got on the 
top of a coach and rode ten miles to Newport, a 
pleasant town ; then on eight miles to Cowes, a 
place much resorted to for pure air and sea-bath- 



102 rapelje's narrative. 

ing ; things are cheap and rents low. I had heard 
much of the beauty of the women in the Isle of 
Wight. They are in these towns very handsome, 
and have a suavity of innocent expression, with a 
mild cheerfulness, that makes them appear amia- 
ble and lovely ; and they dress very well. The 
island, as I rode over it, is very luxuriant ; and 
beautiful seats, cottages, and farms, interspersed ; 
it is said to be the garden of England, and is 
really delightful ; the roads are good, and diversi- 
fied with hills and dales. I crossed over to South- 
ampton, nine miles, in a small steam-boat, and 
found it a fine delightful town, on the river. I put 
up at the Dolphin Inn, and found it an excellent 
one. 

Sunday, June 24th. — There are some good 
churches, as Holyrood, St. Michael's, and All 
Saint's, to the last of which I went to hear 
service. 

On Monday, June 25th, after having visited 
the Botanic Garden, which is small, but in good 
condition, and well stored with plants and flowers 
of all kinds, I took passage in a vessel of about 
fifty tons, for Havre de Grasse, in France, the dis- 
tance of about one hundred and fifty miles, and 
sailed at seven in the evening, with a fair wind, 
and got into Havre the next morning at ten. 

Tuesday, June 26th. — Havre is a large city, 
and has an old appearance ; most of the streets 
narrow. The people seemed to wish to be civil ; 



rapelje's narrative. 103 

they were very particular at the custom-houvse, 
about looking at your person and baggage, which 
last, however, consisted only of my trunk ; I gave 
my key to a girl named Divera, who was a kind 
of Corinne, and could speak English as well as 
French, and was very useful in getting baggage 
through the custom-house, and passports fixed, and 
any thing arranged, as well as show one any 
where, and perfectly modest, virtuous and honest. 
On Wednesday, June 27th, I had to give up 
my passport, which they said would be sent after 
me to Paris, where I should get it again; they 
made me out a new one, and described me partic- 
ularly ; my face, and every feature in it ; the color 
of my hair, eyebrows, height, complexion, fore- 
head, nose, chin, and mouth. What they could 
fear, the Lord only knows. I bought a Leghorn 
bonnet, and had it trimmed for twenty-six dollars, 
and fourteen pair of silk stockings, some black, 
some white, and put them in a box, with my two 
likenesses, for Mrs. Rapelje, and had them put on 
board a Hamburgh vessel, the Elbe, Capt. Lyme, 
for New-York. This was on Thursday, June 28tli. 
I saw here, Capt. Greig and lady, owner of a 
ship belonging to Batavia, going to New-Or- 
leans ; they stayed at the same house with me, 
which was Earl's New- York Hotel. The river 
Seine runs along Havre, which is a fine port for 
ships ; there are excellent docks ; the water falls 
off a great way ; and it is only at particular times 



104 rapelje's narrative. 

that ships can come in and out. The hotel is a 
tolerable one ; good breakfasts and dinners, all in 
the French style ; fine tea and coffee, with good 
boiled milk, eggs, ham, beef-steaks, chickens, &c. 
At dinner, meats, soups, and poultry ; all, however, 
cooked too much, to very rags, with made dishes 
and vegetables ; then puddings and fruit, fine large 
strawberries, cherries, prunes, and fresh currants, 
and fine French wines, a bonne houch of either 
champaigne or muscatel. I took passage for 
Rouen on the road to Paris ; women keep the 
stage-office books, and do most of the w^riting 
in the retail shops. I met here Baron Von 
Clonkerstrom, a Swede, whom I had seen at 
New- York ; who was going in a frigate to 
Sweden. 

I started on Friday, June 29th, from Havre, 
at five in the morning, for Rouen in a curious 
vehicle, called hoshowhore^ or stage-coach, which 
was immensely heavy. The man rides on the near 
wheel horse, and drives the other four, there be- 
ing three abreast of the leaders ; and the harness 
of all their carriages of this description, are thick, 
clumsy leather, patched together with bits 
of rope spliced and fixed to bits of chain for 
traces; the same for bridle and reins; and the 
whole together, an unwieldy machine, and quite 
outre ; a place in front like a chaise, with a lea- 
ther cover to put up and down; also, a heavy, 
thick leather apron covers this outside front seat. 



r.apelje's narrative. 105 

nearly as high as your breast ; then there is a 
basket behind, and seats at the top of the coach, 
and it really appeared like three coaches put to- 
gether. We went through several towns, and 
breakfasted at Balbec, thirty-one miles from 
Havre ; then passed through several other towns 
and villages, and over a delightful country, being 
Normandy ; well cultivated, with corn and grass 
in a luxuriant state. The soil appeared good, 
with great numbers of fruit and forest trees ; and 
all along, on each side of the road, is planted 
with apple trees, in a thriving and flourishing con- 
dition ; the road, for the most part quite straight. 
It was very hot and dusty travelling on this day. 
We passed in sight of a number of manufacto- 
ries of linen and cotton, and other cloths, in sight 
of the Seine river. There were no fences, hedges, 
or ditches, to separate the fields or domains of one 
proprietor from another ; and how they manage I 
know not, but so it is. The flax and grass were 
quite green ; the one they were pulling, which ap- 
peared to be tied up in quite small bundles ; the 
other mowing for hay. On going into Rouen, 
we passed a double row of trees on each side of 
the road, of three miles in length, in a straight 
line. Rouen is a large city, containing one hun- 
dred and twenty thousand inhabitants, and lies 
on the river Seine, sixty-six miles from Havre, 
wliich we were nine hours and a half travelling, 
and is ninety miles from Paris. A number of 
11 



106 rapelje's narrative. 

vessels lie there, of about two hundred tons, the 
water being about twelve feet. There is a splen- 
did Roman Catholic Cathedral, with a magnifi- 
cent front adorned with sculpture ; built about 
twelve hundred years ago. I rode on the front 
outside seat, but was almost suffocated with dust. 
After I had dined, I went to see three cathedral 
churches, Notre Dame, St. Nicholas, and one 
other ; all very large, and of noble Gothic archi- 
tecture of by-gone centuries. There is a very 
ancient market-house, with parts of wood, and 
perhaps built about two centuries since, and to 
appearance in a decayed state. I put up at the 
Vattel Hotel in rue des Cannes, No. 70 Rouen. 
English was spoken by the lady of the house, and 
the waiter. I saw the bridge over the Seine, 
which is paved with stones, and on floating boats, 
which are anchored. I went to the theatre in the 
evening, where there were a number of the hand- 
somest and best dressed female performers I have 
ever seen. The house was very handsome and 
well attended, it being the anniversary of the birth 
of Peter Corneille, one of their most celebrated 
poets. One of his descendants, they say, Bona- 
parte has educated, and is at this time a professor 
in Rouen. The theatre being very warm, and as 
I did not understand French, I soon left it. 

On Saturday, June 30, I found some pleasant 
walks all around Rouen; one that goes entirely 
round the city, having a road and double rows of 



rapelje's narrative. 107 

trees, and a great one on the south side of the 
Seine, and one on the north. The marriages are 
public ; I saw several that came to have the cere- 
mony performed in the City Hall, or Municipality. 
I then took a seat on the top of a coach with a 
Mr. Roquet, who came with me from Havre, and 
with whom I was room-mate. He spoke a little 
English, and I found him a very civil, clever man. 
On Sunday, July 1, I left Rouen for Paris, at 
five o'clock, by a large heavy coach, which held 
six inside and twelve outside passengers. These 
machines were very heavy and unwieldy, and 
went very slow. We were till near nine in the 
evening getting to Paris, a distance of thirty-two 
leagues. We went through several towns and 
villages by the south side of the Seine. There is 
a most delightful valley all along the river. The 
road all the way has rows of trees on each side. 
We saw a number of orchards of different kinds 
of fruit, and forests of great extent. The country 
is very rich and highly cultivated ; producing corn 
and wheat, and other kinds of grain. In many 
places there were whole patches of roses. The 
grape-vine is much cultivated, and there were 
numbers of vineyards near the road. The vines 
appeared quite small, about a foot asunder, and 
each one tied to a stick, about three feet long, and 
stuck in the ground. The river and its margin 
are beautiful ; and St. Germain and its extensive 
forest, about fifteen or twenty miles from Paris, is 



108 rapelje's narrative. 

extremely so. The entrance of the Champ d' 
Elyscees by this way is grand and imposing ; the 
road being straight, between rows of trees, and 
very wide. On my arrival I put up at the Hotel 
Normandie, rue de Clary, for the night. As I 
could not speak French, I was very fearful I 
should be in rather an unpleasant situation. Mr. 
Felix Cadiot had lodgings next door, at the Hotel 
de Ambassadeurs ; and on the following Monday I 
called on him, and walked with him to the Palais 
Royal. It is a square colonnade, with a small 
garden in the centre, filled with a very large bor- 
der of flowers. There were shops of every de- 
scription in the basement of the buildings. It is 
quite low ground; some streets around it being 
much higher, and I had to come down several 
steps to it. This was all formerly the palace of 
the Due d' Orleans, and where he at the present 
time resided. At one end, and forming one of the 
narrow sides of the oblong square, I saw the 
largest and best theatre, which is on the same 
side with the Boulevards, which I had seen from 
the stage, as we passed the day before. It is a 
wide road, or street, walks on each side ; joining 
the houses are double rows of trees on each side. 
The Boulevards go all round Paris. Mr. Cadiot 
went with me to look for lodgings, where I could 
live and have my meals in the same house. I 
got lodgings this morning at Mrs. David's, in rue 
March-peti Montmorency Hotel, at four francs a 



rapelje's narrative. 109 

day, being a neat bed-room and sitting-room on 
the ground floor, without mounting so high as most 
accommodations in Paris. This day, I dined with 
the lady of the house and her daughter, and in the 
evening went to the theatre with them, on the 
Boulevards, where a small girl, said to be but nine 
years old, performed wonderfully. 

On Tuesday, July 3d, I went to Gagliani's li- 
brary, in Rue Viviente, and subscribed to the read- 
ing room for a fortnight ; and dined at the Restau- 
rateur, in the Palais Royal, said to be the best in 
Paris, as also the dearest, where I had a good din- 
ner, which cost me ten francs. 

On Wednesday, July 4th, I dined with the 
Americans at Grenan's Hotel, it being their anni- 
versary of Independence ; where were Mr. Galla- 
tin, the American ambassador, and the Marquis 
La Fayette, Washington Irving, the American 
Consul, in all thirty-six, sat down to an elegant 
dinner. The wine, and liquors of all kinds, were 
as bad as the dinner was good. Among other 
toasts they published, was one I gave on the occa- 
sion, " Great Britain, France, and America, — may 
peace, harmony, and love, unite them for ever." 

On Friday, July 6th, I breakfasted a ta Cafee 
in the Boulevards, near the alley called Panorama, 
and hired a horse and gig and drove to the Bola- 
nicor garden of plants, which was very fine, supe- 
rior to any thing I could have imagined ; where 
were all kinds of flowers, plants, &.C.; with birds 



110 rapelje's narrative. 

and animals of the best kind, and in the highest 
state of preservation ; here are also vast hot-houses, 
with their conservatories. I then went to St. Sul- 
pice church, and the Pantheon ; the vaults are su- 
perb. I saw Voltaire's and Rousseau's tombs; 
both under ground, and under the building ; erect- 
ed in a solid, neat, elegant manner. The view 
brought to my mind what I had heard of dun- 
geons, as our guide had a lantern. I then visited 
the Louvre, the gates of which are immensely- 
large and magnificent, ornamented with bronze; 
the sculpture of the pediments is very fine, and the 
gallery of paintings, about sixteen hundred in 
number, is beyond description. The gallery is 
nearly fourteen hundred feet long, and, shameful 
to relate, only forty-two feet wide. On the ground 
floor are the statues, about one thousand of them, 
of superior style. I dined with Mr. Cadiot, at the 
Hotel Royale, near Palais Royale. 

On Saturday, July 7th, I rose early, and walk- 
ed to see the Luxembourg Gardens, which are very 
fine ; the flowers were beautiful and abundant. I 
wished in my heart that my wife had been present, 
who I knew would have enjoyed this most delight- 
ful garden of flowers. The palace is notliing ex- 
traordinary. I then mounted to the top of the 
Observatory, at the end of the gardens, and on my 
return got a fine breakfast in the gardens, at a 
coffee-house. I then returned, and went to see the 
National Royal Library, in the city, where are 



rapelje's narrative. Ill 

upwards of three hundred thousand volumes, with 
some natural and other curiosities, and a few paint- 
ings, &c. Mr. Hotongor returned a visit I had 
paid him; and Drs. Francis and Stevenson also 
called on me, but I was out. The French are a 
most astonishing people. They go to the most 
frequented public walks; and many ladies and 
gentlemen take their meals at a restaurateui' or a 
coffee-house, and set in the streets by thousands, 
on hired chairs; a sous is paid for a chair. In 
these frequented walks the chairs are piled up, 
when put away, as high as your head, between the 
trees. The Boulevards are much frequented. 

I walked through the Hospital of Invalids, on 
the other side of the river, where there were, I 
think, five thousand disabled soldiers. The build- 
ing is good ; and the chapel, with its paintings on 
the dome and ceiling, is grand, and inlaid with 
marble. There is a fine library in this establish- 
ment. There is an immense quantity of gilding on 
the outside of the dome, as well as in the interior ; 
it is very large, and is known at a distance as the 
Invalid's, by its large dome and its gilding. I 
passed a short distance further, and saw the Champ 
de Mars, a large field, with rows of trees on each 
side. It is a piece of ground kept bare, I suppose, 
by the constant exercise of soldiers and horses. 
It is four hundred feet wide, and about two thou- 
sand long. The building that fronts it, is large 
and extensive. I then got a lacquey dc place, and 



112 rapelje's narrative. 

gig, or dennet, and went to see the market of 
flowers, on the other side of the river, where the 
flowers are displayed in pots and bunches, in and 
out of season, on each side of the street, but 
through which carriages are not driven, I sup- 
pose two hundred and fifty feet in length. It ap- 
pears exactly like two borders of flowers on each 
side of a walk, but indeed much richer and thicker. 
I then went to the Gobelin manufactory, where 
the specimens were most elegant, and equalled any 
paintings I had ever seen. There was one African, 
or Indian piece, with fruits and trees, and bulls 
yoked, a Spanish bull-bait ; and in one of the pieces 
representing one of the wars on Paris, a soldier with 
his battle-ax raised to split the head of another, 
who had betrayed the army of Henry, partly sit- 
ting on the ground, with his head and eyes lifted 
up, and with open mouth, horror stmck, as in the 
moment of receiving the blow ; his mouth appear- 
ed better than all the paintings I have seen ; just 
as if it was open, and you would deem it was. I 
also saw the Church of Notre Dame, with two 
large steeples. The interior is magnificent ; hav- 
ing two very large painted windows, circular ; on 
each side of the nave fine paintings and monu- 
ments, &c. &c. I also saw tlie Court of Justice ; 
it is one very large room, but spoiled with a row 
of square columns in the centre, thick and heavy, 
running through lengthways, and spoils the beauty 
of the fine room by pacing. It appeared two hun- 



rapelje's narrative. 113 

dred and fifty feet long, and ninety feet wide. In 
the evening I went to the Italian Opera, in rue 
Richelieu. Othello was performed; the singing 
and dancing by some young girls, who were all 
very handsome, were excellent, the orchestra fme, 
and the house well attended. 

On Sunday, July 8th, I went at nine o'clock 
in the morning, by stage, to see the palace and 
gardens of Versailles, which were too magnificent 
for me to describe. Every thing that art or nature 
can produce, in gardening or building, is there to be 
found. The immense number of urns, and statues 
of marble and alabaster, bronze, vertical and re- 
cumbent ; the immense stone steps leading to the 
terrace, steps seventy feet long, and one hundred 
of them ; the hand-rail of stone, in pieces of twelve 
feet long, and six inches thick, and eighteen wide, 
with banisters and all besides in proportion ; the 
gardens of flowers, shrubs, and orangery, contain- 
ing about five hundred orange trees in large boxes, 
which must be housed in winter. The palace, 
with its chapel and theatre, is most splendid, with 
vaulted and painted ceilings. The different apart- 
ments, banqueting and audience, and other state 
and dressing, and lodging rooms, and libraries, and 
bed-chambers, are ornamented in all the magnifi- 
cence and splendor the art of man can invent; 
several of which are of marble, and of which all 
the floors and walls are composed ; others with 
gilding of one mass ; and some rooms with immense 
15 



114 rapelje's narrative. 

mirrors, &c. &c. The marble railing around the 
gallery of the chapel is very long, sixteen feet in 
one piece. Versailles is twelve miles from Paris ; 
and is said to be the most superb palace in Europe. 
It has not been inhabited since the time of Louis 
XVI. I saw two other palaces, the Treanons, 
the large, and the small one, a temple of low and 
circular platform and roof, supported by columns 
all round at equal distances. The Treanons are 
very beautiful palaces ; the Queen of Louis XVI. 
inhabited one of them. It is impossible for me to 
describe every thing I saw, as I was taken through 
the rooms very rapidly ; the conductor was dressed 
in the King's livery, and run on like a parrot, de- 
scribing what was in the different rooms ; and un- 
less you got in the room as soon as the first of the 
visitors, of whom there are a great number, he has 
finished, and into another. There are a number 
of fine paintings, of which I thought the " Snow 
Storm" the best. The front of the palace is about 
two thousand four hundred feet long ; there are a 
ground floor, a first floor, and an attic. 

On Monday, July 9th, I went to see our Ame- 
rican ambassador, and paid him twenty-five francs 
for a power of attorney, having sold on Friday 
last, one thousand dollars' worth of bank stock to 
Capt. Burke, who stayed at the same house, and 
was going to America, for which I got one thousand 
and forty dollars. I afterwards visited Mrs. Lud- 
low, who had fine children. She was formerly 



rapelje's narrative. 115 

Eliza Elders. I then went with my lacquey de 
place, to see the deposits of all mechanical inven- 
tions, patents, and indeed every thing made by 
man, woman, or child ; then drove to the large 
looking-glass manufactory; the largest I saw, was 
ten feet long, and six feet two inches wide ; they 
polish and plate them here, which process I saw ; 
then drove to one of the cemeteries on a hill, where 
I saw the tomb, as they told me, of Abelard and 
Eloise, which I doubt to be the fact. I was at 
the Exchange; dined with Mrs. David, at the 
hotel where I lived, and in the evening went to 
see an automaton exhibition, the one we have 
heard so much of in America ; the figure, or chess 
player, who beats every body ; likewise an automa- 
ton rope-dancer, both uncommonly ingenious. 

On Thursday, July 10th, I saw the Cabinet 
of Natural History. Every thing was in a fine 
state of preservation, from the minutest animal, to 
the elephant ; all the feathered creation, and also 
reptiles and insects, that crawl in the dust, or fly in 
the air, were arranged with taste. After seeing 
this collection, it would be quite useless to look 
at any other, as I suspect it is impossible for man 
to make them more complete. 

On Wednesday, July 11th, I drove, with Mr. 
Haight of New- York, to see the manufacture of 
save or porcelain china at the village of Save, 
tAVO leagues from Paris ; the articles are splendid, 
and very dear ; the most costly was an urn, I sup- 



116 rapelje's narrative. 

pose, six or seven feet high, about three feet and a 
half in diameter, in the largest part enamelled, 
blue and gold ; the price, they said, twenty-five 
thousand francs, or five thousand dollars, fit only 
for kings or opulent noblemen. Opposite the road, 
is St. Cloud, the country palace, or place the 
king takes a drive to, and stays a fevr days at a 
time ; he was there as we passed, but I did not 
see him. There is a fine park, and laid out with 
much cost ; there are also several fountains, cas- 
cades, and jet d'eau; but I did not see them play. 
The grounds about, are very fine, groves and 
walks, and on a high hill in front there is a column 
erected, from the top of which there is a good 
view of Paris and the neighboring country. We 
returned by the way of Bologna, where the Duke 
of Berri had a country residence, but did not see 
it. In the evening, I went to Tivoli Gardens, 
which are very handsome and ornamented with a 
number of plants ; it contains forty acres ; on some 
nights there are fire-works, and at other times, a 
display of dancing, and other feats of agility. 

On Thursday, July 12th, I saw a panoramic 
view of Naples, which was well executed, and 
appeared as natural as reality. In the evening, I 
went to the Garden Beaujon, where there is a 
curious entertainment ; an immense hill is made 
of stone work, arched altogether underneath, call- 
ed a mountain, where a car with two persons 
descends at an incredible velocity, and in appear- 



rapelje's narrative. 117 

ance is very dangerous ; accidents have happened, 
but did not at this time ; as it is altered so as to 
avoid them. I was fearful myself to go down. 
The car that descends, is drawn up by a chain, 
jfixed to machinery along the inclined plane under- 
neath, and moved by horses ; it is a second Tivoli, 
fire-works, rope-dancing, phantasmagoria, fortune- 
telling, farcical plays, and slight-of-hand tricks, and 
all for two francs. I went with a Mr. Barton, and 
another English gentleman, whom I met at a Mrs. 
Le Grand's, who keeps a boarding-house ; I w^ent 
there to see the manner and style, but it was not 
exactly to my taste. In the evening, I went to 
visit a gaming-house in rue Richelieu, where I 
saw both ladies and gentlemen ; there were two 
rooms and each crowded, about thirty or forty, or 
perhaps more. I did not play, but walked about 
and viewed them for about a quarter of an hour, 
and retired. 

On Friday, July 13th, Mr. Cadiot sent me a 
ticket to visit the Chamber of Deputies ; it is over 
the Pont Louvre. The interior, or deputies' room, 
is semicircular, lighted from the roof; the mem- 
bers sit on benches raised gradually, which is the 
form adopted in the Chamber of Peers, and is the 
most convenient. I counted above two hundred 
and fifty members, but they did not appear more 
than one hundred ; I suppose the room will con- 
tain four hundred when seated. I suppose it is 
one hundred feet in diameter ; the spectators are 



118 RAPELJE's NARRxVTIVE. 

in small narrow galleries, and a miserable stair- 
way to get up to them. There is a great deal of 
confusion and disorder among the deputies. One 
old man got up to speak, and they made such a 
noise by talking, &c., that he was obliged to stop 
till the speaker rang a bell, and beat on the table 
to get them to keep silence ; and when one gets up 
to speak, he gets into a box, (they call it a ros- 
trum,) but it is more like a criminal's box, right 
before the speaker, and addresses the deputies ; 
they are generally respectable looking men, and 
do honor to the nation in appearance, but disgrace 
it by their confusion. If one of them wants to 
speak, they cry out like children, " it is my turn," 
and " it is my turn," and they cannot be kept to 
order. Instead of delivering their speeches like 
the British or American legislators, they generally 
read them off from a bit of paper ; the subject was 
that of laying duties on wines, &c. &c. 

On Saturday, July 14th, I saw nothing, but 
was engaged in purchasing some articles to send 
to my wife in New- York. I bought a shawl of 
French manufacture for a Cashmere, but it was 
not ; it was very rich, and figured, of a new pattern, 
and gained the prize of two hundred and fifty 
francs ; two caps ; two pocket-handkerchiefs, em- 
broidered, for one hundred and ninety-five francs ; 
and a dark claret colored silk for a dress, ten dol- 
lars ; with some prints of the fashions. I dined 
at the Brussels Hotel, at the ordinary table ; and 



rapelje's narrative. 119 

on Sunday, I went to St. Germain to visit Mrs. 
Ludlow, who resided there, and returned in the 
evening, in the rain. 

On Monday, July 16th, I purchased to send to 
my wife, two hats, two caps, two pocket-handker- 
chiefs, worked, two patterns of silk for dresses, 
one large shawl, four coral or bead sacks, or in- 
dispensables, eight pair of shoes, some prints of 
the modes, &c., a book of the "Views of Paris," 
and was engaged in getting them ready, and in 
writing a long letter, to be sent by Capt. Burke ; 
and the next day was engaged in getting them 
through the custom-house, which is a tedious 
business. I sent them to Havre, to go by Capt. 
Burke of the Stephania. 

On Wednesday, the 18th, I visited the Ana- 
tomical Cabinet, in the Garden of Plants, contain- 
ing the bones of many animals, and also complete 
skeletons, as well as other preparations of animals, 
fish, &c., in spirits, and in the highest state of 
preservation. There was the skeleton of the ele- 
phant, several of oxen, and those of every grade 
of animals down to the minutest insects, and 
indeed several of each kind. There was also a 
display of the viscera of human beings and ani- 
mals in wax, like nature itself; a hen, as if laid 
open, and her egg, large size, in full display ; and 
an immense number of lusi naturae, preserved. 
A full description I cannot give, but there were 
books that described every particular. 



120 rapelje's narrative. 

On Thursday, July 19th, I went to see Talma, 
the great tragedian ; but, like all the rest of those 
the world calls great actors, he overstrained 
nature. All was overdone ; such things in real 
life are never seen. It is like tuning a silver cord 
till it breaks, and all the sweetness of music is 
lost. A very large lady, Madame Paradol, was 
the most majestic actress I ever saw. Her face 
was beautiful ; but her form was too large. 

On Friday, July 20th, I met with nothing ma- 
terial, but walked in the Garden of the Tuilleries, 
which was full of company at seven, p. m. The 
weather was extremely warm, and the streets 
dusty. 

On Sunday, July 22d, I went to see the water- 
works play at Versailles, as was advertised in the 
newspapers ; but it began to rain with violence, 
and in consequence there was no display of water- 
works. The people here do many kinds of work 
in the streets, such as making wafers, roasting 
coffee, sewing, knitting, and spinning. It is a 
curious place ; it is cleanly, and it is dirty. The 
people generally keep themselves remarkably 
nice and tidy, and dress is their prevailing passion. 
I cannot say they study it ; it seems to be natural 
to them, and the women do really put on their 
clothes with much taste. The streets are filthy ; 
and at the same time, they are always cleaning 
and washing them, mostly the gutters, which are 
in the middle of the streets ; and water is constantly 



rapelje's narrative. 121 

running through most of them, which on warm and 
dry days, is thrown up out of the gutters with sho- 
vels on the other parts of the streets to lay the 
dust. 

On Monday, July 23d, I saw a small garden 
they call Vauxhall, where there was music and 
dancing by the promiscuous company; the conduct 
and dress of the visitors were as chaste as in the 
most polite assembly. There is a large oblong 
square, surrounded with trees and double rows of 
benches ; and any gentleman choosing a lady, hands 
her out in the dance of quadrilles or waltzes; and 
twenty, thirty, or forty couple are seen waltzing at 
one time. 

Tuesday, July 24th. — On the Boulevards are a 
number of prints of all descriptions on stalls, and 
cords stretched from tree to tree to hang them on, 
and also a piece of cloth, or sheets, or canvass, pla- 
ced on the ground along the houses, or a vacant lot, 
and hardware and dry goods laid out for sale. I 
dined at Maurice hotel, at a table d'ote; the com- 
pany were all English, both ladies and gentlemen. 

Wednesday, July 25th, I walked in the Garden 
of the Tuilleries. The number of statues and pieces 
of sculpture is great ; a hog, or a wild boar in white 
marble, on a pedestal, is very well executed. On 
the next day I went to St. Cloud, dined, and came 
back by Rassy. T saw and drank of its mineral 
waters. There is a small garden, with terraces, 
&c. &c. 

16 



122 rapelje's narrative. 

On Friday, July 27th, I went to St. Genevieve, 
and dined there ; walked on the terrace, which is 
very much elevated above the Seine, and where 
there is a delightful view over a beautiful valley, 
the river winding through it. On Saturday it 
rained the whole day. 

On Sunday, July 29th, I rode to Change Elisee, 
and to the Garden of the Tuilleries ; in the evening 
I went to Tivoli. 

Tuesday, July 31st, I rode to Montmarte, a 
high hill, on which is a telegraph, which was in 
operation, and by which communication is made 
between Calais and Paris in five or six minutes ; 
it is about a mile and a half from Paris. I also 
visited the slaughter-house, called Montmarte, 
which is the largest, and near to the hill. There 
are several others about the environs of Paris, or 
the outer Boulevards; and indeed this is an excel- 
lent establishment. All the neat cattle, bullocks, 
cows, calves, sheep, &c., are here kept in the most 
comfortable manner, lodged and fed, as prepara- 
tory for slaughter. This is a very large inclosure 
of buildings, surrounded by a high wall, forming 
an oblong square, with several rows of solid stone 
buildings, two stories high, with spacious cellars, 
all paved or flagged with large stones, and espe- 
cially adapted for killing and dressing the animals, 
with Avater sufficient to overflow a few inches deep 
all the floors, and wash every thing clean. The 
buildings are several in a row, separated from 



RAPELJE's NARKATIVE. 123 

each other by wide avenues. Those for slaugh- 
tering, have large doors on each side ; a beast can 
be drawn in at either. The animal, an ox, is then 
killed, and I saw one; as soon as he was bled, a 
couple of bellows, quite large, were applied to 
holes made through the skin of the animal, and it 
was literally blowed up, and made to swell to an 
enormous size; which the butchers told me was 
done with an intention of making it skin easily, and 
the operation of skinning appeared to be done with 
much less trouble, and quicker, than with us. The 
meat after being hung up, seems all bloated 
like a bladder. There is also every convenience 
for trying out the fat, and boiling the feet, &c. A 
woman went round with me, wife to the porter ; 
for, by the bye, every house in Paris, of any conse- 
quence, especially the hotels, and all public lodg- 
ing-houses, have a porter at a small room adjoin- 
ing an immense gate ; and as she was going around 
with me, her face had all the softness and amiable 
appearance, as if she had been going to a fete in 
the Delta Fardine^ which is just by, and with no 
sort of horror at the several spectacles of beasts of 
different kinds; some just dressed, others driven 
on and beaten by huge sticks, to make them go 
forward ; others just with their throats cut ; some 
they were just skinning; in other instances the 
operation had been performed, and their entrails 
also about to be laid open ; and in another place, 
where the fat was trying out, men with only a 



124 rapelje's narrative. 

white canvass petticoat and bib on, the rest of 
their bodies naked, throwing the fat in the caul- 
dron with a shovel; and a young woman in the 
same room, well dressed, with a pair of new, hand- 
some, yellow morocco slippers, with clean white 
stockings, and neat frock, well put on, putting the 
tallow in the scales, perfectly unconcerned, as if 
the death of an animal was nothing. They take 
things free and easy ; and, it seems, do not mind 
trifles. 

On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, I saw 
nothing particular, but lounged to different parts 
of the Boulevards ; breakfasted one day at the cor- 
ner of Fradeau and Vivien, at the Cafee Sortone, 
and dined at a restaurateur in the Palais Royale, 
for forty-two sous, from four different dishes. The 
Boulevards Italiennes, are crowded with company 
genteelly dressed, and going in to take ice-cream 
at the caffee till twelve o'clock at night. Ladies 
and gentlemen sit in lots at each side of the foot- 
walk, and numbers of carriages come to the differ- 
ent caffees. 

Saturday, August 4th. — In the evening I went 
to the Italian Opera, opposite Lully, near the rue 
de Richelieu, where I heard some fine music and 
singing by Pellegreen, and some excellent female 
performers. 

Sunday, August 5th, I went to the Luxembourg 
palace. The paintings are very fine ; it is one long 
narrow gallery ; and I saw the Chamber of Peers, 



rapelje's narrative. 125 

a handsome semicircular room ; and other rooms 
of the palace are very handsome, with fine painted 
ceilings, and a few other paintings, and some few 
statues. 

On Monday, August 6th, I moved my lodgings 
to the Hotel de Mars, rue de Meil. Mrs. David, 
at the lodgings I had been, was of late rather dif- 
ferent in her manner towards me ; instead of being 
received with a pleasant smile, as I saw her com- 
ing in, there was a coldness and reserve at which 
I felt uncomfortable. What was the cause I could 
not tell, but I thought I had better move my quar- 
ters. 

Tuesday, August 7th, I went to the other side 
of Ponte Royal and Neuf, on which bridge are a 
number of odd occupations of people, with small 
benches, stools, and tables, hawkers of books ; and 
among other itinerants, was a sausage seller, and 
a clipper of cats and dogs, that is, a hair cutter of 
cats and dogs. 

Wednesday, August 8th, I went to the Theatre 
dele Port St. Martin; where most of the women 
were very ugly; but there was a woman and a 
man who danced exceedingly well, the best I have 
seen in this dancing country. The theatre is on 
the Boulevards, beyond the tcmi)le. 

On Thursday, August 9th, I rode to Change 
Elisee and Bous de Boulogne, with the lady of the 
hotel, in a gig I hired for fifteen francs a day, and 
found it difficult to get a good one. The French 



126 

are always in the streets and theatres ; they would 
much rather lose a meal than their theatre ; they 
care little for the morrow ; they are pleasant and 
agreeable when kept in a good humor, but ready 
to tear you to pieces if you offend them. The 
streets are always in a humid state; water is 
always running in all the gutters, which comes 
from some reservoir, and pumped up from the 
Seine ; but they are generally very filthy. I dined 
at the Maurice Hotel at a table d'ote, where I saw 
a Mr. and Mrs. Jacques, from Charleston. It is 
reckoned to be the best hotel in Paris. The Eng- 
lish go there, generally, and find things conducted 
in the English style. 

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, the 10th, 11th, 
and 12th of August, I went in company with an 
Englishman, Mr. Van Benson, to take a drive in a 
gig I hired, to Mount Valerian, about three miles 
and a half from Paris. It was very high, and for- 
merly called Mount Calvary, they suppose, to re- 
present the place where our Saviour was crucified. 
There is a chapel and three crucifixes, raised very 
high, and figures of men on each, to represent our 
Saviour between the two thieves. In the front, is 
the tomb, made of stone ; in the back part a stone 
coffin, and the figure of Christ, as supposed he laid 
entombed; all very affecting. The hill being 
so very high, the prospect and views are far supe- 
rior to any thing about Paris. Montmarte, where 
the telegraph is, can by no means be compared to 



rapelje's narkative. 127 

it, although the view is fine there also. The coun- 
try all round is fertile, beautiful, and well cultiva- 
ted ; a great deal of wheat is raised about this hill, 
and grapes. The wheat through the country was 
at this time ripe, and they were harvesting it, and 
it is all what we call bald-wheat, without beards 
on the heads, which are very long and large, and 
as fine as any wheat I ever saw. 

On Monday, August 13th, I was with Mrs. 
Ludlow, of New- York, took her to the Palais 
Royal, and made several visits with her. 

Tuesday, August 14th. — It rained all day. I 
breakfasted with a Mr. Robertson, in rue Gram- 
mont, an accidental visit. I was engaged most of 
this day in getting my passports fixed, and had to 
pay ten francs at one office, intending to go the 
next day to Holland ; a franc is about one and six 
pence, New- York money. 

Wednesday, the 15th, I received letters from 
Mrs. Rapelje, Mr. Golden, and Mr. Stewart, dated 
10th of June, from the post-office, favored by 
Miss Garnets, as my address was not known. I 
remained at home, and wrote a long answer to 
Mrs. Rapelje. 

On Thursday, the 16th, there was nothing par- 
ticular, although in Paris. I was persuaded to 
stay till Monday, in order on Sunday to go to 
Versailles, and see the grand display of water- 
works. I had visited a day or two ago the Mrs. 
and Miss Garnets, who had just arrived from 



128 rapelje's narrative. 

America, and to whose kindness I had been in- 
debted for my letters. 

On Friday, the 17th, I went to the new 
Opera House, which was just finished, near the 
Italian Boulevards ; it was elegantly decorated, 
with a fine saloon in front, for singing and dancing ; 
the interior highly ornamented with gilding, but 
all very heavy, and as in the other theatres, lighted 
by only one chandelier in the centre, which does 
not give the house so brilliant an appearance, as 
lights around the boxes, as in the English and 
American theatres. As yet, I have seen no the- 
atre so brilliant as Drury-lane, and the Opera 
House in London. 

On Sunday, the 19th, I went to Versailles ; the 
fountains all played, and the water-works were 
amusing ; the great number in the different parts 
of the park were magnificent. I have often seen 
prints and representations of these displays, but 
all fell short of the reality. It is four leagues from 
Paris, and the road was lined with carriages of 
all descriptions, from the common pot de cham- 
bre, a carriage on two wheels, covered and drawn 
by one horse, a public one, the fare of which is 
cheap, and to which the Parisians have given this 
playful, but vulgar name, to the elegant coach and 
six. 

I left Paris at six o'clock on Wednesday morn- 
ing, August the 22d, in a diligence for Brussels ; 
passed through a number of fine towns, and finely 



rapelje's narrative. 129 

cultivated country. They were harvesting their 
wheat, which is uncommonly good, and all other 
grain, as rye, barley, oats, flax, hemp, clover, &c. 
&c. They are inferior to England, or the United 
States, in all mechanical branches of husbandry, 
and in their implements of labor. We went 
through Valenciennes, Cambray, and Mons, and 
many other intermediate towns. The three men- 
tioned are all inland. The gate-way is arched, 
through which the stage passed at Valenciennes ; 
appeared to be a hundred feet thick, with a very 
wide and deep ditch on the outside, which can be 
filled with water, yet the English made out to 
make a breach, and took it. I saw many places 
in the wall on each side of the gate, where cannon 
balls had made perforations on the outside, and 
severe marks they were. The whole of the first 
night, we rode, and part of the 23d, till one o'clock, 
when we got to Brussels, situate on the river 
Scheldt ; the weather was extremely hot. The 
travelling diligences are miserable, slow, heavy 
machines, and the post-riders are all in favor of 
driving on the paved part of the road, which is 
paved with square stones for about twelve feet 
wide in the centre, although each side is very 
good, and most part of it level ; yet the drivers 
jolt their passengers and themselves and carriages, 
and ruin the horses, over the stones. O, what 
prejudice ! The roads are made mostly straight, 
witli a row of trees on each side, but do not form 
17 



130 rapelje's narrative. 

a shade in the middle of the day for carriages. I 
put up at Brussels, at Terrleman's Hotel, and 
found it decent, and both clean and quiet ; hut 
the Wellington, or Flanders, or Bellevue Hotels, 
are the best, and in better situations, but are said 
to be dearer. 

On Friday, the 24th, I was present at a 
grand Te Deum in the cathedral ; all the military, 
and the archbishop, and other clergy, and differ- 
ent ministers, as well as other distinguished cha- 
racters, were in the church, in their court dresses, 
and rich lace on the white dresses of the priests. 
The whole was very grand and imposing from the 
presence of the military band of the Belgian troops. 
I counted twelve clarionets, with the other instru- 
ments, in the cathedral ; then the singing, all male 
voices, accompanied by the organ, was quite ex- 
quisite. The cathedral is very large and hand- 
some ; the neatest, and kept finer than any I 
have entered. I found nothing particularly inte- 
resting in Brussels. It is the seat of government 
of Belgium, or the Netherlands, and capital of that 
kingdom. This being the King's birth-day, who 
resided there, a grand fete was given, and fire- 
works in the evening ; a grand dinner and ball at 
the royal residence, but I did not go to see either. 
There is a pretty, though small park, at the upper 
end of the town, being a square of about forty 
acres, surrounded by a wall, and houses on the 
outside. 



rapelje's narrative. 131 

On Saturday, August 25th, I went at seven 
o'clock in the morning by the diligence, to Ant- 
werp, and passed through several pretty towns. I 
saw the King of Netherland's palace, a few miles 
from Brussels, near the road on a hill. The coun- 
try is very fertile, and well cultivated, mostly low 
intervals or valleys, interspersed with canals and 
small rivers. We rode a considerable distance 
along the Brussels canal, and saw numbers of ves- 
sels and boats towed along by men, that is, the 
smaller ones ; the larger by horses. The country 
is beautiful, with trees most of the way along the 
roads ; no rocks or stones in any of the country 
from Paris. Antwerp is about thirty miles from 
Brussels, and I may say two hundred and forty 
from Paris. I visited the large Cathedral of Notre 
Dame, in which were Reubens' master-pieces of 
paintings, the '' Descent," and " Ascension." This 
was his native place. Those, with another over 
the altar, the " Resurrection," are of immense 
value ; it is said, no price would buy them. The 
steeple of six hundred and twenty-four steps to the 
top, is of elegant architecture, composed of stone 
and iron, and highly carved and ornamented ; the 
whole church is of a plain neat style, in the inte- 
rior, and was nearly a hundred years in building, 
and has been erected four hundred and fifty years. 
Antwerp is a very dull city, and very few ladies 
are to be seen in the streets, and scarcely a car- 
riage. The river Scheldt runs along by it, and 



132 rapelje's narrative. 

there are fine docks, made by Bonaparte, that can 
hold an immense number of ships. It is a very 
strong vs^alled city, with deep wide ditches, and 
filled with water. I visited several other churches, 
as St. Andrew's, and St. Augustine, in which is a 
fine picture by Van Brace, of the " High Priest 
pouring oil or baptizing," and the church, called 
the Jesuits.' St. Andrew's is very large. I went 
to the church of England on Sunday, August 26th, 
and heard service and a sermon in English. On 
Saturday, I had been to see the pictures at the 
museum, which were very fine ; many, I suppose, 
by Reuben, Vandyke, and others. This was the 
native place of Van Dyke, as well as Reubens ; 
many of those pictures, especially the famous 
ones of Reubens, were taken to Paris, in the time 
of the revolution. The light in the Notre Dame 
is admitted from such a height, that I think the 
beauty of them is partly lost ; and I must say, 
that in the " Ascension," the dog is the only fig- 
ure natural, that I could see ; and in the " De- 
scent," the face, and the light colored auburn hair 
of the female, supporting the leg and pierced foot 
of our Saviour, and the face of the female directly 
behind her ; but the faces are as different as day 
from night, but both uncommonly sw^eet and fine ; 
and the face of the girl in the corner, having a bas- 
ket on her head, are beautiful ; all the other fig- 
ures, and their beauties, are lost to me ; but there 
are some who judge and form their judgment from 



rapelje's narrative. 133 

what others say, and what they read in books, who 
have a different opinion. I form my opinion from 
the natural appearance of what I saw. In Paris, 
and all the towns I went through, the beggars 
were very annoying, and whenever the stage stop- 
ped, numbers surrounded, nor did they quit it till 
its departure ; and along the roads, the boys and 
girls, of all ages and sizes, followed the stage, 
especially when it went up a hill, begging for half 
a mile or more. It is a disgrace to the country ; 
the police, so rigid in other respects, ought to put 
a stop to this practice also. The lacques de 
place, or conductors, swarm at all the hotels, and 
are very annoying, wanting your money, and in- 
truding themselves to show you to every place ; 
they have a little smattering of English, but are 
hardly intelligible ; and it is with the utmost diffi- 
culty they can be made to understand any thing 
you say. Whenever you go out, or come in, you 
are beset with them, and it is with great difficulty 
you can get rid of them, for they follow you a 
long distance even when you have told them you 
do not want them. I could not divest myself of 
the idea of their being spies on me. In tlie eve- 
ning, I went to the theatre, and saw Madamoi- 
selle Mars perform ; she is a very beautiful wo- 
man, and an elegant actress ; the French are so 
sweet, so soft, in their expressions and actions ; 
and the theatre was neat, small, and well fdled. 
In going home to the Hotel d'Angletene, Avhere I 



134 rapelje's narrative. 

stayed, I saw ten or more Dutch girls, who came 
around me, and asked for caramus money, as they 
called it, to dance with. I was never so surrounded 
by females before ; I imagined they were common 
prostitutes ; and, as I could never say a cross word 
to strange females, it was a little time before I 
could get away. I was literally surrounded ; one 
took hold of my hat, others my coat-skirts, &c. 
&c., but all in good humor, for I am sure they did 
not mean to hurt me ; it was just eleven o'clock, 
when they saw another gentlemanly dressed 
man, when they left me and went to him. How- 
ever, I gave them no money. I had never, in 
Paris or London, been surrounded in that way 
before. 

On Monday, the 27th, I went to St. James's 
Church, where I saw Mount Calvary, and under- 
neath it Purgatory, and in the centre, our Saviour 
composedly lying in the tomb ; they, the people, 
kneeling, and praying their departed friends out of 
this place of departed spirits. Also hell, in an- 
other view, with carved images of old and young, 
with the representation of burning, and fire and 
flames all around them, carved out of wood ; an af- 
fecting illustration of the torments of hell. Mount 
Calvary was above, with the image of our Saviour 
on the cross, his side pierced, and a stream of 
blood, say of an inch or more diameter, spouting 
from the wound in a curved line of five or six 
yards in length, and appeared like blood running 



RAPELJE S NARRATIVE. 



135 



from his side, and falling down on the lower part 
of the Mount. All around are images of different 
saints and figures commemorative, and indeed very 
affecting to my mind, and to those other strangers 
who went with me, I also saw the tomb of Reu- 
bens, in St. Jacques Egleise, and a painting over 
it of himself in armor, and his father, wife, and 
family, assimilated to some piece from sacred his- 
tory. I then saw" a small private collection of a 
private person, near St. Jacques. A lady, I be- 
lieve, about twenty-five years of age, owned them, 
who painted portraits, and taught painting; I 
saw a great many of the Flemish, Dutch, and 
Italian schools. I went in search of the picture 
painted by Mast, the journeyman blacksmith, who 
was enamored of the great painter Flori's daugh- 
ter. Flori had declared he would consent that no 
one should have his daughter, except he could 
paint better or equal to himself. The smith set 
about learning the art day and night; and, one 
day, when Flori was away, he painted a fly on the 
leg of a picture Flori had just finished, which Avas 
so naturally done, that when Flori came again to 
touch his picture, he went to drive away the fly. 
He was vanquished ; the blacksmith had become a 
great painter, and obtained the object of his af- 
fections. This was the place of their residence, 
where I saw a piece of well executed, fancy, open 
wrought blacksmith's work, of metario, over a 
well. At two o'clock in the afternoon, I set off for 



136 rapelje's narrative. 

Breda, thirty miles from Antwerp, and rode over 
a flat country, w^here there was some very fine 
lands, and arrived at Breda at half past eight, and 
put up at Dr. Orr Leon, and took passage the 
next morning for Rotterdam, which was thirty-six 
miles. 

On Tuesday, August 28th, I went at five o'clock 
in the morning, in a diligence, for Rotterdam, and 
passed several fine villages. Crossed the Mause, 
or Meuse, and two other ferries, and crossed over 
two islands ; the stage drove in the batteau in the 
two last ferries, I believe the Role and the Meuse ; 
the first about a mile wide, passable in an open sail- 
boat. The road, all the way from Antwerp, leads 
through orchards, corn-fields, gardens, and mea- 
dows, with trees planted, for the most part, on 
each side ; and I could constantly see the water, 
either canals, rivers, ditches, or ponds, interspersed 
through the country, which presents an uninter- 
rupted level, like an immense marsh, or salt mea- 
dow, drained by these waters. They travelled 
very slow; but in some places where it is not 
paved, (for indeed the roads all through France, 
and mostly in the Netherlands, are paved, for 
about twelve feet in the centre) there is very heavy 
sand, and for several miles the horses did not go 
off a walk. We got into Rotterdam at ten o'clock. 
It is a fine city, all life and bustle, quite different 
from the stupid dullness of Antwerp. I put up at 
the Bath Hotel, on the great street Bompoys, a 



rapelje's narrative. 137 

river in front of the house, and a canal directly 
at the back, under my bed-room; it washes the 
foundation, and is more than a hundred feet wide. 
The street is at the other side ; and all the borders 
of the canals and rivers along the town, are plant- 
ed with rows of trees. There are about fifty-five 
thousand inhabitants. I went to see the large 
Protestant church, Avhere was the monuments of 
their famous admirals. Van de Ruyter and Van 
Tromp. The brass door and railing, and marble 
entrance to the altar, are fine jDieces of mechanical 
workmanship. It is a large interior, plainly built, 
but not ornamented with such fine workmanship 
in altars, paintings, &c., as the Roman Catholic 
churches. I went to bed early, in order to take 
the treck schute on the morrow at half past four 
for the Hague. 

Wednesday, 29th of August, I set off in the 
treck schute, a boat about thirty feet long and 
about eight feet wide, on the canal. All along 
there were beautiful country places, with their 
summer, or pleasure houses, of an octagon form, 
and looking-glasses projecting, to reflect the 
numbers of boats passing, which are drawn by a 
horse by a long cord fastened to the mast, and a 
man at the helm to steer. The country is cut up 
with canals ; the land a perfect dead level, inter- 
spersed with trees, and large flocks of fine cattle, 
pasturing. The soil is very rich ; the country 
places beautifully laid out, and very regular, in 
IS 



138 

the Dutch style. We passed Delft, and got to the 
Hague, a large town, with thirty thousand inhabi- 
tants; all the streets of the city intersected by 
canals, with rows of trees on each side. I saw the 
public walk, which was very beautiful and roman- 
tic, on the outskirts of the city. I also saw the 
palace, and royal cabinet of pictures; one of oxen 
and sheep, with the shepherd, or owner, was by 
Paulus Potter, a Dutchman, and was the most 
natural picture I have ever seen. Several others 
struck me, as '' Cain and Abel," and " Adam and 
Eve;" all very chaste and modest, considering the 
situation, bringing to mind the fallen state of man. 
All the streets and houses are neat and clean. I 
stayed and breakfasted at the Marshal Turenne 
Hotel ; and at half past twelve started in the treck 
chute, and passed through the canal by a number 
of beautiful country places, just even with the 
water. The city of Leyden is three hours' sail, or 
nine English miles, from the Hague. It is delight- 
ful going in these boats; there was a constant 
succession of boats and horses. I got to Leyden 
at half past three, and went to see the Botanical 
Garden, which has been in existence for several 
centuries, in a high state of cultivation and preser- 
vation. All the plants are from every part of the 
world. Here I saw the pepper trees, the tanka, 
and vanilla ban trees, the spice, cinnamon, or 
mace ; also two trees planted by the famous Boer- 
have, who was professor here, one an ash, the 



rapelje's narrative. 139 

other a honeysuckle ; also a palm tree, which, they 
told me, was three hundred years old, but which 
I could not believe. The town is as the other 
Holland towns ; most of the streets are filled in the 
centre by a canal, with trees ; the houses, how- 
ever, have not the appearance of being filled with 
moss, as one would suppose, and no appearance of 
the effect of dampness that would arise from so 
much water; the people seemed in high health. 
The college is a small building, adjoining the gar- 
den. I stayed till half past four, and set off for 
Haerlem, in a kind of cabriole, or curricle, with two 
wheels, and two horses ; the cross-bar of the cur- 
ricle, is under the bellies of the horses. I went on 
through a pleasant country, all low, interspersed 
with fine seats and canals; rode along one for 
three miles, and passed the Haerlem boat, called 
the treck schute. The road is a perfect level, 
shaded with trees, and most of the way paved with 
bricks edgeways. I went in company with a 
gentleman of Haerlem ; we joined in the expense ; 
there were six tolls, and the cabriole and man 
were quite expensive, double that of a public 
stage, or the boat. Haerlem is about fifteen miles 
English from Leyden, and we got in at nine o'clock. 
I put up at a house to which the driver took me, 
near the barrier, or gate, that leads to Amsterdam. 
At Leyden I saw the portraits of all the presi- 
dents of the university, in a room at the college. 
On Thursday, the 30th of August, I went to 



140 rapelje's narrative. 

see the Protestant Church, which was very large 
and plam ; it is four hundred feet long. I went up 
to the steeple, and had a fine view of the city. I 
saw another church, whose steeple was formerly 
a light-house, when the neighboring country was 
covered with the ocean. This great church is 
more than four hundred years old. I also saw the 
King's palace, which is not so large or magnificent 
as those of France or England, but is perfectly 
chaste and beautiful. There are three rooms that 
form a suite of apartments, and which were in my 
taste, the neatest and best proportioned, as well as 
furnished, I have ever seen ; they are in a line con- 
nected and communicated by very large openings 
in the centre, and from each there is a fine view of 
the park, which is indeed beautiful, being regu- 
larly laid out, with walks and roads, and orna- 
mented with immense trees. In the palace, is a 
beautiful staircase, the steps and hand-rails of 
white Italian marble ; also, some elegant marble 
chimney-pieces, one from the ruins of Herculaneum ; 
the floors of the suite of rooms are all inlaid of oak 
wood, which is of two colors, and each room has 
in the centre a beautiful chandelier. The centre 
is the ball-room, in which there is a narrow gal- 
lery for the musicians all round. The rooms are 
all of an oblong square ; the glass of the windows 
lightly tinged with a red and bluish cast. I went 
to hear the great organ in the great church, at 
twelve, but did not think it excelled others that I 



rapelje's narrative. 141 

had before heard, I then went on in a return 
chaise to Amsterdam, a distance of about five 
miles, and put up at the Arms of Amsterdam, 
kept by Mr. Porter, at the corner of Rutland- 
street. The country all the way is cut up with 
canals, and boats go every hour to and from 
Amsterdam, called treck schute. I often thought 
of my wife, as she loves ease, comfort, and plea- 
sant travelling ; here it was in perfection, the roads 
so level, the waters so smooth ; the ladies in the 
boats are constantly sewing or knitting. The 
Dutch are proverbially neat and clean, and indeed 
it is so in reality. I dressed and dined at a table 
d'ote, and had an excellent dinner of large joints 
of roast and boiled, and fine Westphalia ham, 
and indeed two courses of meat, the second of 
birds and wild fowls, and poultry, with a good de- 
sert of fruit. About thirty sat down, among 
whom were many travellers from Antwerp. 
After dinner, I delivered a letter from Messrs. Le 
Roy and Bayard, to Messrs. Stafhorsts, whom I 
found very civil ; one of them accompanied me to 
the opera, and paid for my ticket. I laid my mo- 
ney down twice, but he insisted. I would not 
repel his kindness, because I should have been 
fretted if I had wished to present a friend with a 
ticket, and it was refused acceptance. Tliis gen- 
tleman had been in New-York. The music was 
good ; a fine orche.stra, and a good male singer. 



142 rapelje's narrative. 

The theatre was small ; they have a larger one 
of the Dutch. 

Friday, August 31st. — I visited the palace, 
formerly the Stadthouse, in which there are a 
number of handsome rooms ; the largest, in the 
centre, is one hundred and forty-five feet long, 
and sixty wide, the handsomest room I ever saw, 
and the best proportioned in Europe ; the ceiling 
is a hundred feet in height, I think, arched ; the 
interior rooms, have all marble pillars and pilas- 
ters, as have all the side walls in the interior 
rooms, and are very handsomely furnished ; there 
are a few fine paintings. From the top of the cu- 
pola there is a fine view of Amsterdam. I went 
to see the public picture gallery, as almost every 
city or town in Europe has something of that 
kind. I found this an indifferent one. There 
are a great many pictures of the best artists, if 
you believe your guides, and these guides declare 
in every place, that they have the originals of Van- 
dyke, Reubens, Potter, Rembrandt, &c. There 
were none that I admired. The one at the Hague, 
however, of oxen and sheep by Potter, was to my 
mind unexceptionably the best I have seen. I 
then went to their music room. In the same build- 
ing is a philosophical apparatus, and a few paint- 
ings. Their museum, as they call it, as well as 
their picture gallery, I thought, did not compen- 
sate for the trouble of walking to see them. They 



rapelje's narrative. 143 

show you the skeletons of some highwaymen, as 
old Jack and his dog, and another, of a very old 
man, who was executed. I went to the church, 
where I saw the tomb of their famous admiral 
Van de Ruyter ; there were some elegant carved 
works in the church, and a pulpit of curious struc- 
ture, with fine carving in wood, with a brass rail- 
ing, all of very excellent workmanship. I went to 
the Exchange, and saw a. great concourse of peo- 
ple. Exchange lasts only an hour. This city is 
also cut up in the streets by canals. At eight 
in the evening, I went to the Jews' Synagogue, 
where there was the finest singing I ever heard in 
my life ; two female voices, as I thought, which 
led me to obtrude near the altar to see the face of 
the female, but found both singers were men. I 
then went to their public walk, or park, or pro- 
menade near the canals ; indeed there is no mo- 
ving without seeing water, and yet it is remarka- 
able that iron does not rust, or brass tarnish, any 
more there, than where there is not so much wa- 
ter. In the evening I went to their smoking 
houses ; they were enough to suffocate me. The 
windows are all shut down, and the curtains are 
drawn ; they have half a dozen metal or crockery 
vessels, with large coals of fire to light their pipes 
and cigars by. I was obliged to smoke in my own 
defence. This smoking is at all places, and at all 
times, without respect to the habits of others, I 
thought there was a dullness or stupidity among 



144 rapelje's narrative. 

the Hollanders ; I believe they visit very little ; 
but the ladies, especially, shut themselves up, and, 
as I was told, were seldom seen out, except on a 
Sunday. 

Saturday, September 1st. — I called on Mr. 
Stafhorst, who gave me a letter of introduction, 
and set off at one o'clock in a treck schute for 
Utrecht, a distance of about thirty American miles, 
and passed several small villages, and got to An- 
vers, at nine ; this is on the river Anistell. 

On Sunday, September 2d, I started from 
Utrecht at half past seven in the morning for Nei- 
miguen, in a diligence. I had forgot to mention, 
that in the boat, the day before, there was a lady 
on board with gold plates on each side of her 
head, and large square ear-rings, the fashion of the 
Frieslanders or North-Hollanders, which give their 
heads a very curious appearance. We rode 
through several very neat small towns, and arrived 
at Neimiguen, a distance of thirty-six miles. I 
walked on the promenade, which has a fine view 
of the river Wall, that takes a turn at this place, 
and there is a fine ferry you cross over in a large 
boat, or rather two boats put together, planked 
over, and a space in the centre underneath ; this is 
driven over the river by the tide; a very long 
chain is fastened in the centre of the river, and is 
floated by eight or ten boats at distances from 
each other, and then to a standard in the ferry- 
boat, like a gallows, over which it runs to one 



rapelje's narrative. 145 

side or the other, as the boat ferries, I stayed at 
the hotel, Palace Royal ; the ground is quite high 
where it stands, and it appeared to be getting rid 
of that dead level which was all about me. I 
went on nine miles to a place called Clevor, a 
small town. Neimiguen is a walled town, and 
there are soldiers stationed there ; the Holland 
language is altogether spoken, but most of them 
understand and can speak French. I seldom met 
with any one who could speak English. 

On Monday, September 3d, I left Clevor, where 
I had slept, and went on in the morning to Dassel- 
dorf, on the Rhine, which is passed in a long boat 
di'ifted over by the tide, in the same manner as the 
one before described. I passed through several 
towns, as Xantar, Rheinberg, Hoghstrut, Weden- 
gan, and had to sleep at the ferry-house, where I 
was almost eaten up with bugs. In the morning, 
Tuesday, September 4th, I crossed over, and put 
up at Bullenback. The country from Neimiguen 
to Dasseldorf is mostly flat, some part of which is 
fine land, and well cultivated. The farmers were 
getting in their oats. The roads were sandy and 
the travelling miserable. I took a post-chaise 
most of the way, the diligence not going this day, 
the distance about fifty miles ; the river here is a 
third of a mile wide. I left the King of Holland's 
dominions, and was now in Prussia. At Dassel- 
dorf there is a fine park, and a neat botanic gar- 
den, all kept in good order. I started at two 
19 



146 rapelje's narrative. 

o'clock for Cologne, about twenty miles English, 
where I arrived at six ; I put up at the Imperial 
Hotel. This place is on the Rhine. The country 
I passed through, was very fine, all level, and 
mostly good land ; there were fruit trees all along 
the road, of plumbs and apples, and grapes grew on 
the side walls of the houses. There are no fences 
all along the road, or between the different fields, 
and few farm-houses. The farmers, I imagine, 
must reside in the towns and villages, which are 
seen every few miles. I now found myself quite 
at a loss, as no one could speak English ; but I 
had made out very well as far as I had come. 
Cologne appeared to be a bustling place ; contain- 
ing many large churches and about fifty-four thou- 
sand inhabitants. The streets were narrow and 
crooked. 

Wednesday, September 5th, I left Cologne at 
eight, and went through Bon, Rhonmaker, Seni- 
cies, Andregnach, to Coblentz, about forty-five 
miles from Cologne. It was most all the way on 
the Rhone, and many of them very old towns, and 
have Roman Catholic churches. I saw several 
hills; and in one place they looked to me very 
much like some part of the highlands near New- 
York. On some of the hills, were the remains of 
old castles; the views all along the river were 
beautiful, and the whole a fine fruitful country. 
The diligence stopped at Rhonmaker for us to 
dine ; and we got into Coblentz at six, p. m., where 



rapelje's narrative. 147 

there is a fine stone bridge over the Rhone ; but it 
was undergoing some repairs, so we crossed with 
the diligence in a drift-boat, as before described. 
It is a strong fortified place, with several forts, 
castles, and bastions, to defend all approaches. It 
has the most formidable and imposing appearance. 
The forts, three or four, are on very high hills, 
near the river. Coblentz is situated just where 
the river takes a turn ; and there is a fine large 
building, which appeared like a palace, all out of 
repair, near a small park of trees. The country- 
over which I passed was level, and very fruitful. 
When about ten or twelve miles from Cologne, the 
vineyards became very numerous on the sides of 
the hills, on each side of the river ; but it was a 
bad year, the grapes were nearly cut oflT. The 
women in Prussia work very hard, carrying heavy 
loads on their heads ; they altogether attend mar- 
ket, carrying heavy baskets filled with fruit and 
vegetables, a great way. The females appeared 
to be very industrious ; what the men were about 
I don't know ; in the fields I mostly saw women. 
I put up at the hotel opposite the bridge of boats. 
The charges for living are high. 

Thursday, September 6th, I left Coblentz late 
for Mayence, and rode all night in the diligence, 
along the Rhine ; could see by the moonlight some- 
thing of the country. The distance is about fifty- 
five English miles. In many places, just after leav- 
ing Coblentz, the hills rise from the margin of the 



148 rapelje's narrative. 

river, and leave only a carriage road. We passed 
through many towns in a dilapidated state, close 
to the river, the hills seeming to hang on them; 
and I saw many on the other side also, and at 
many of them, on a high rock, stood the ruins of a 
castle, temple, or cathedral, and at the foot of some 
a large cave, or cavern, also in ruins. Several parts 
of the river are beautiful, with a number of towns 
all along, the names of which I do not remember ; in 
many places there were fine flat intervals on each 
side. The fields appeared well tilled, and most 
sides of the hills were covered with vineyards. Near 
to Mayence there were many hills very long, but 
the roads good over them. All along those were 
immense numbers of fruit trees, crowded with fruit 
of all kinds; the peaches are not good, but the 
plums are excellent. 

I arrived at Mayence at twelve o'clock on Fri- 
day, September 7th, and dined at the Three 
Crowns. About forty sat down to the table ; and 
I went off at two in a return chaise for Frank- 
fort, and left the Rhine, after passing over it at 
Mayence on a bridge of boats, which is very in- 
geniously constructed. The plank covering is 
easily taken up to let boats pass, by a windlass 
readily replaced, but not so well as the common 
draw-bridges. I went on through a small town 
called Hocheim, wiiere I stopped at an inn, and 
had some thin Hocheim wine, which was very 
good, and got into Frankfort at eight o'clock. I 



rapelje's narrative. 149 

put up at the Hotel de Angleterre, I was detained 
at this place the remainder of this and the follow- 
ing day, as I could not get a conveyance. Those 
who have carriages, promise to come at such an 
hour, but they disappoint a traveller, and I thought 
those at the hotel were concerned with them to 
detain the passengers ; as they inform you of them, 
and make believe they have engaged them. The 
more I saw of the Dutch, Prussian, and Russian 
people, the more I disliked them ; they are un- 
couth and unaccommodating, and get in a car- 
riage with their great pipes, and smoke you to 
death ; and care not whether it is unpleasant or 
not. 

On Sunday, the 9th June, twenty-four English 
miles to Darmstadt, in the Duke of Darmstadt's 
dominions, where I saw the regiment reviewed, 
the soldiers performed the evolutions with the offi- 
cers and men, and were equal to any I ever saw. 
It is a fine, improving town, and there are many 
excellent new houses, as well as at Frankfort, 
with gardens and parks ; I then dined, and went 
on in a return carriage, with a lady from Boston, 
and her son to Vanheim, where we slept. This 
place is twelve more English miles, a fine country, 
with hills and valleys ; but the road goes through 
a fine level country. The hills are to be seen all 
the way on the left. 

On Monday, September 10th, I went from Van- 
heim to Heidelberg, twelve English miles, where I 



150 rapelje's narrative. 

visited the castle and garden, and saw the great 
Heidelborough Tun, and entered the Duke of Ba- 
den's dominions ; there is not wine enough in all his 
dominions to fill this Tun. The river Neckar runs 
along by Heidelberg. I rode along this river a 
considerable distance, on my way to Pensheim ; 
the road runs between numerous hills ; the land is 
very good, covered with fruit trees all along. I 
went on to Sensheim, a small town where I dined 
eighteen miles from Heidelberg, then went to 
Heilbron, eighteen English miles, to sleep. I saw 
many towns all the way from Frankfort, and a 
beautiful country, but no houses along the roads, 
although the land is cultivated like a garden. The 
farmers all live in towns, and go miles to work ; 
the women do the most labor, carrying loads of 
fruit and vegetables on theu* heads, in large bas- 
kets, and are treated like beasts of burden. 
Vineyards are cultivated on most of the hills, but 
the wine is not said to be good ; however, I drank 
half a bottle every day, with my dinner, and 
thought it light and pleasant. This year, the 
grapes were all cut off. I set out from Sensheim, 
and went on through several pretty towns to 
Heilbron, twelve English miles, and put up for the 
night at the Senne Hotel. It is a considerable 
town, the river Neckar running along it, Avhich I 
passed over on a wooden bridge. The roads all 
through the country are very fair, with trees at 
each side, all of different fruits, immense numbers 



rapelje's narrative. 151 

of plumbs, pears and apples ; but I have not met 
with any better than those I haA^e tasted m Ame- 
rica. All along the road there are stones prepared 
and preparing to mend these roads ; the horses go 
very slow, that is the worst of all, to those accus- 
tomed to quick travelling; seldom get more than 
from three to three miles and a half an hour. The 
country was considerably hilly between Heidel- 
berg and this place. Heilbron is in the King of 
Wurtemburgh's dominions. 

On Tuesday, September 11th, I started at eleven 
o'clock in the morning, drove over a hilly country, 
passed several towns, and got to Besigheim, where 
I breakfasted, twelve English miles from Heilbron, 
and passed the Neckar, over a bridge ; between 
the latter named place and Besigheim. At this 
place I also passed a bridge over the river Ens, a 
small stream, and passed a fine country to Ludo- 
vick, a fine town, with an elegant royal palace, 
in front of w^hich there is a fine garden, park and 
public walks. Ludovick is nine English miles 
from the last town, and where there were two 
thousand men, a standing army ; the country 
became quite hilly; after having dined, I went 
through several towns, amid hills and valleys, the 
road all the way lined with apple, pear, and plumb 
trees, crowded with fruit, and the hills from bot- 
tom to top covered with vineyards, but there 
were no grapes this year. I came to Stutgard, 
nine miles English, a delightful town, the rcsi- 



152 rapelje's narrative. 

dence of the King of Wurtemburgh ; the palace is 
very handsome ; the garden and park extremely 
beautiful, with the river Ens running through it. 
I put up at the King of England Hotel, as it is 
called. A couple of miles along the river is a 
handsome public garden, also a mineral spring, a 
mild chalybeate. I stopped at Stutgard. 

On Wednesday, September 12th, I set out in 
an extra post-chaise alone to Swenv^^arding, about 
four leagues, where I breakfasted, changing horses 
and carriage; then went to Illingham, four 
leagues, then to Pfortsheim, where I dined, and 
Welfordengen, Tallock, and several other small 
towns, through a handsome country, with gentle 
hills, highly cultivated. There are trees along 
the road, and on to Carlsruth, a beautiful town 
or city, there is a handsome palace or chateau. 
It is genteelly furnished, and a very large park 
with a garden, and the finest and thickest wood 
for several miles in extent, surrounds the city. 
The rocks are of uncommon size. There were a 
great number of soldiers, fine looking men, whom 
I saw performing their evolutions in the woods, 
like savages in the forests of North-America, or 
the United States. The town is very handsome, 
flagged sidewalks with flat stones, and the city 
is well laid out. 

Carlruth is twenty leagues from Stutgard. All 
around this place is a thick forest of beautiful 
wood, and perfectly level. The women in the 



rapelje's narrative. 153 

country, as I passed along, were gathering in the 
oats and flax; no houses through the land, with 
one or two exceptions ; the women are very hard- 
featured and coarse, and very much embrowned 
by the sun. They never wear hats, but seem to 
labor like beasts of burden. Poor creatures ! I 
pitied them. They all live in towns; and the 
country is well cultivated, like a garden ; but to 
see so large a space of hill and valley without a 
house, had the appearance of a dreary waste to 
me, unaccustomed to such a sight. The towns 
and cities are filthy. The cattle lodge under the 
same roof with the owners, only separated by a 
wall. There are no fences to the fields ; the cattle 
must always be kept inclosed. I took passage in 
a diligence for Strasburg, a distance of twenty-one 
leagues. The Hotel de Lespres, where I put up, 
was very good, where I remained till ten o'clock 
at night, and travelled all night in a diligence, 
passing through Radstadt, Stockholm, Birthgheim, 
Trechl, to Strasburg. I passed over a level coun- 
try all the way, but the diligences in this Dutch 
Germany travel very slow, and I did not arrive 
till four o'clock. Friday, 14th, we were delayed 
at the barrier over the Rhone, which divides 
France from Germany, near to Strasburg, and 
nearer Trechl, where we dined ; we were detained 
to examine our baggage. I put up at the Lespres 
Hotel, which is on the river Rhine. It is a large 
place, and there is a beautiful Catholic church, of 
20 



154 rapelje's narrative. 

the best ancient architecture I have seen in Eu- 
rope. The decorations about the steeple and front 
were very beautiful, and would have been quite 
modern, if the color had been white, instead of a 
dingy look, almost black. It is the same with all 
the old buildings here. The organ in the church 
was, I think, far superior to that I heard in the 
Protestant church at Leyden or Haerlem. When 
I went there, they were at high mass, so I heard 
it, accompanied by two bassoons, which had a fine 
effect. There is a beautiful walk around the ram- 
parts of Strasburg, on the river. I set off at half 
past twelve o'clock, in the diligence, for Basle, 
which is twenty-eight leagues, and rode over a fine 
country. Passed through Celestadt, and many 
other towns and villages. I rode all night ; the 
road was very level. Being once more in France, 
the diligence went faster. 

On Saturday, the 15th of September, I arrived 
at Basle, at eight o'clock in the morning, which is 
in Switzerland ; having left France just before we 
entered the town, between it and France. This is 
a fine town on the banks of the Rhine ; the people 
are industrious, ingenious, and more neat than the 
French. There are many handsome, small coun- 
try seats about it, with gardens, tastefully laid out. 
I delivered a letter from Messrs. Van Stafhorsts of 
Amsterdam, to Mr. Isling, (a former partner of 
Messrs. Le Roy and Bayard, at New-York,) who 
resides here. He was very civil, but as I did not 



RAPELJE's NARKATIVE. 155 

intend to stay at Basle, he gave me a letter to Mr. 
Talluchio, of Milan, and Mr. Falconet, of Naples. 
I stayed at the Cologne Hotel at Basle, which was 
very good. I left at two o'clock, in a diligence, 
for Berne, in Switzerland ; the road very good, but 
over a very great number of hills and valleys, 
looking, in some places, as if the sand, mountain, 
and rocks, were going to fall over us. Between 
the hills it was well cultivated, especially towards 
Berne. The farms were good, with houses on 
the land, affording a most beautiful picturesque 
scenery ; an immensity of forests and woods, with 
great quantities of firs of all kinds. We arrived 
at Berne at eight o'clock, on Sunday, the 16th of 
September, after riding in the diligences two whole 
nights, I put up at the Crown Hotel, and had my 
passport signed by the Sardinian and Austrian 
ministers ; and, by inquiring of the Austrian minis- 
ter, found that Baron Leider's sister, who had 
given me letters to his family, was there, the wife 
of the Spanish minister. Chevalier de Viergol, a 
fine looking pleasant lady. I did not see his 
daughter, who staid with her. Berne is very plea- 
santly situated, on an angle formed by the river 
Acor, which runs very rapidly. It is surrounded 
by hills and valleys ; and there are some beautiful 
walks, with views of the river. A stream of wa- 
ter runs through the gutters of the streets, rapid 
enough to turn a mill ; the sidewalks are all un- 
der cover. The whole city looks like a perfect 



156 rapelje's narrative, 

cloister; the houses all projecting over. The vro- 
men, called the Bernards, dress very curiously in- 
deed. They wear black caps, with large black 
gauze wings, and monstrous huge hips and petti- 
coats, and in coarse chemise sleeves; their fea- 
tures very coarse and rough. I saw two large 
bears, the largest I have ever seen, confined in a 
large yard ; they had been taken in the neighbor- 
hood some years before, and were of a brown co- 
lor. The woods being so extensive, there must 
formerly have been great plenty of them, as this 
place. Beam, or Berne, takes its name from bear. 

Monday, September 17th, I left Berne at four 
o'clock A. M. ; passed a hilly country, for five 
leagues, and got in sight of Lake Moral, and break- 
fasted at a town of the same name. The lake is 
about two leagues and a half long, and half a 
league wide, with several beautiful towns and 
villas around it. The land is well cultivated; 
there is a fine valley all along the lake. The 
Swiss appeared to be excellent farmers. I passed 
through Avasonck, an old Roman town, about two 
leagues, and Paeon, two leagues further. This 
was halfway from Berne to Lausanne, nine leagues. 
The people look more decent, especially the fe- 
males, who do not dress so outre, and have better 
features and forms. The diligence went very slow, 
and was delayed a long time. The roads are 
tolerably good over the hills. The forests of tim- 
ber are numerous, but mostly pine. I dined at a 



rapelje's narrative. 157 

town half way between Berne and Lausanne, 
where I arrived at nine o'clock ; it is nineteen 
leagues from Berne. The roads are good over the 
hills, which were numerous; but the country is 
well cultivated, and I began to see many houses 
built on the farms, the houses and barns all un- 
der one roof The horses went very slow, as 
may be seen by our going only nineteen leagues 
from four in the morning till nine at night; but 
their diligences, or stage-coaches, were very heavy. 
They weighed here, as well as all over the conti- 
nent, when under weigh on the road, about four or 
five thousand pounds ; for, besides passengers, they 
carried all kinds of packages, like a great wagon. 
I put up at the Golden Lion Hotel ; none of the 
hotels are very good. The house afforded good 
eating and drinking, but otherwise was but indif- 
ferent. Lausanne is situated on the Lake of Ge- 
neva, or Lake Leman, as it is there called, beau- 
tiful by surrounding hills and a diversity of scenery. 
At different times of the day, the lake, and moun- 
tains opposite, put on different appearances. Many 
English families reside here ; but I could not like 
the place. The town is built on two or three 
hills, very steep; you ascend or descend; the 
streets are narrow and crooked, and horses with 
carriages go up and down them with difficulty. I 
believe that living is cheap here ; but it is a great 
distance over land to come to it. The climate and 



158 rapelje's narrative. 

scenery in the environs of Lausanne are beautiful ; 
composed of mountains and valleys, vs^itli a small 
part of fine champaign country, the whole covered 
with vineyards, fruit trees, gardens, and fine farms, 
and all well watered. You see across the lake 
the clouds settling between the vertical projections 
of the mountains, making a singular appearance. 

On Wednesday, September 19th, I left Lau- 
sanne at ten o'clock, in a small carryall, I hardly 
know what to call it ; there are four low wheels, 
and the body where you set is low in front ; the 
front wheels are far from the after ones, and the 
machine is placed on two poles, resting on the 
hinder axle and front bolster ; and you step out 
and into the carriage sideways. We went 
through several towns on the lake ; the country 
and views were charming ; the road fine, and the 
hills not very steep. The water of the lake to- 
wards evening, and the clouds on the mountains 
on the opposite side, produce shades of different 
colors, varying from black to white, and show 
something like a rainbow in beauty. Indeed, the 
whole scenery of the lake and finely cultivated 
country and opposite hills are truly sublime. We 
passed a chateau where Joseph Bonaparte for- 
merly lived. We arrived at Geneva at eight 
o'clock; it is an old looking town, eleven leagues 
from Lausanne ; many of the streets are very steep 
to ascend, and all very irregularly built, as most 



rapelje's narrative. 159 

of the towns on the continent. I had a fine sight 
of Mont Blanc, with its top covered with per- 
petual .snow. 

Thursday, September 20th. — I was obliged to 
remain at Geneva ; the Rhone runs very rapidly 
through the city ; and divides it in two parts. The 
city is connected by two bridges. There are seve- 
ral fine walks, and a botanic garden near the city. 

Friday, September 21st. — I could not get a 
conveyance to Milan. I would advise strangers 
to travel by post, or have their own horses, it is 
so troublesome to find public conveyances. 

Saturday, September 22d. — I set out at six in 
the morning, on the south side of the lake of Ge- 
neva, or Lake Leman, by a return carriage towards 
Milan ; and passed through Theman, Evran, Mil- 
lieme, and put up for the night at St. Gingoulph, 
about eight leagues from Geneva. The road was 
excellent all the way along the lake, through those 
small towns. It is a beautifully cultivated coun- 
try, with fruit trees of all kinds and vines; the 
hills are also covered with trees. The gardens 
abound with vegetables. There is a specimen of 
a great work in one place, the rock being cut 
down two hundred feet to make the road along 
the shore of the cape ; the horses only went on a 
walk ; and I was almost tired with such slow tra- 
velling. After I had gone to my bed-room, and 
locked the door, entrance was demanded by the 
driver of the carriage, for I had told the other 



160 

three passengers, I would not go with him, he 
drove so slow. I offered him a gold Napoleon and 
a half for the twenty-four English miles I had 
rode with him, which did not satisfy him ; he 
wanted more ; on my refusal to give more, and 
declaring I would ahide by the law if he chose to 
see what that would allow him ; though a stran- 
ger, I would not be imposed upon. After coming 
to my chamber, he had the villany to break in an 
under pannel, through which he put his head and 
demanded his pay for the whole hundred and 
eighty miles, when I had not travelled the sixth 
part of the way. The landlord came in a few 
minutes. 

Sunday, September 23d. — After paying the pos- 
tilion or conductor a Napoleon and a half for walk- 
ing his horses twenty-one miles, with me behind 
them in a carriage all day, I set off from St. Gin- 
goulph at five o'clock, a. m. Now the tops of the 
Alps began to appear, but none of them in sight 
so high as to be covered with snow. The lake 
was perfectly beautiful ; the water, the bluest of 
the blue, and a purer and more transparent color I 
never saw ; all the small towns appeared misera- 
ble, and the houses were in a state of decay. How 
this could be, and the country so fertile, appeared 
a paradox to me. The post I went in, was a small 
one horse waggon. I passed on to Vionar, St. Mau- 
rice, Martigne, Riddes, Sion, Siene, to Tourte- 
mange, where I put up for the night ; this was all 



rapelje's narrative. 161 

through the Valois along the Rhone river between 
the mountains of the Alps, along the road, cut and 
made, as they said, by Bonaparte, and beautiful it 
was ; mostly level, being two leagues and a half 
from one part of the town to another, and in all, 
sixty-three English miles. This charming valley, 
through which I rode, is called the Canton of Va- 
lois, on each side are the high hills of the Alps in 
all their diversity, now and then their summits 
clad in white, which the French called glacies, 
the French for ice, others adjoining appeared with 
all the luxuriance of spring with green verdure ; 
and up the sides of those stupendous mountains, 
vineyards and gardens, hamlets, cottages, and 
towns, with terraces, were made wherever prac- 
ticable ; and in many places my astonishment 
was raised in thinking it was possible for man 
to inhabit in places so lofty, perilous, and dif- 
ficult of access. Yesterday I saw an immense 
number of large chestnut trees crowded to excess ; 
this day all kinds of fruit trees, and an immense 
number of vineyards ; but the wine is of a light 
kind and sour, that you meet with at the inns. 
The charge of the post for seven and a half Eng- 
lish miles, including the driver, was eleven francs, 
and that in a miserable wagon. 

Monday, September 24th. — Along the valley 
to Simplon, I saw many persons, to appearance, 
idiots, and could not tell the cause ; both men, wo- 
men, and children, also having a great swelling 
21 



162 rapelje's narrative. 

under the throat, called goitre, of all sizes. I 
thought it proceeded from their drinking goat's 
milk, from seeing the goats feed on elder leaves, 
and other poisonous plants by the road-side. This 
day I travelled with Count Lesop, an Italian, from 
Rome, who w^ent, it appeared, with the queen to 
England ; there was a boy, and also a woman, 
a domestic ; they rode in their own carriage. I 
paid my proportion with the cost to-day. We 
passed through Viego, then on to Brigg, where we 
breakfasted, which is at the end of the valley on 
the Rhone, and is a neat white looking village 
from a distance ; it is just the beginning of the 
great road over the Simplon mountains. At one, 
we set off again, having been delayed for post- 
horses four hours. I took to my feet, and began 
to ascend by the stupendous road Bonaparte made ; 
it runs up the mountain, and is truly magnificent. 
How it was cut and made, it is impossible to say. 
I saw mountains below and above me. As I 
ascended, the view of the Rhone and town of 
Brigg, through the valley, was beautiful. I walked 
up about nine miles ; the torrents, precipices, above 
and below, rocks, trees, earth, clouds, in many 
places, hung nearly vertical over my head, and 
appeared tedious and tremendous ; small hamlets 
and cottages, here and there, all along quite to the 
summit ; the peasants employed about their goats, 
of which they keep great numbers ; I counted one 
flock of eighty ; the milk and butter made of it is 



rapelje's narrative. 163 

very fine. It was unluckily dark when I arrived 
at the top, which is ten miles and a half from 
Brigg ; we went through two galleries or ways, 
one cut out of solid rock, the other of solid ice, 
and where it is very cold, with constant and vio- 
lent gusts of wind. Near the extreme summit 
it was tremendous, water rushing torrent like, 
through the fissures of the rocks. The scene was 
awfully terrific ; we were, as it were, aghast, ex- 
pecting every moment to be crushed to pieces 
with rocks, and trees, and earth, and glaciers, 
and avalanches, tumbling from overhanging sum- 
mits ; and the great noise of the waters, dashing 
by with impetuosity, makes the scene awful, 
with the noise of cataracts below our feet, — 
The prospect is indeed sublime and terrific. At 
last, we began to descend ; and the postillion did 
descend with as much rapidity as he ascended 
with slowness. This road is a stupendous work, 
smoothly worn, and well made. At nine in the 
evening I got to Semblon, nearly half way down 
the mountains. Semblon is thirty-four leagues 
from Geneva. I had forgotten to say, that the 
heavy rains for a day or two had swelled the 
Rhone so much, that in the valley it overflowed 
its banks, and we had to ride knee deep in water. 
Tuesday, September 25th. — I left Simplon at 
seven o'clock, went all the way down hill, passing 
several torrents of water, pouring into the rapid 
river Doura, which passed over innumerable rocks 



164 rapelje's narrative. 

in its course. I saw several huts and some houses, 
and passed through many passages cut out of the 
solid rock, called galleries ; one six hundred feet 
wide, and high enough to admit two loaded 
wagons, as I should judge ; the river roaring, and 
the sound of the horses' feet, and crack of the pos- 
tillion's whip resounded through this vault. We 
travelled down hill to Domo Dossello, passed the 
barrier or line which separates Switzerland from 
Italy, a house with officers stationed to stop the 
carriage, and request passports, called isellas. I 
forgot to remind myself this was the case on the 
entrance of any town or city of consequence, and 
especially between one kingdom and another. At 
Domo Dossello was a fine bridge of two arches, 
very high, thrown over the river Crevola, another 
name for the river Doveria. Coming to Domo 
Dossello, from tlie severity of the cold on the 
Semblons, I was disagreeably affected with 
great heat ; and now a fine plain appeared, and 
Italy opened before us. This is, however, in the 
King of Sardinia's dominions. After dining at 
Domo Dossello, I went on in a creeping voiture 
to Bavino, on Lake Maggiora, and put up at the 
post-house ; passed several small villages through 
the valley, of only two or three houses each. 

Wednesday, September 26th. — Crossed Lake 
Maggiora in the morning from Bavino to Laerno, 
passing the Boromean Islands, which are called 
beautiful. From the lake the Alps arise on every 



rapelje's narrative. 165 

side, and the finest view of the tops of the Sem- 
blons, where they appeared to more advantage, 
than from the lowlands or valley. I breakfasted 
at Laerno, and then went with some Milanese in 
a boat, and visited the two Boromean Islands, in- 
habited or occupied, and belonging to a family of 
that name. The house is a concatenation of su- 
perb magnificence and deplorable wretchedness; 
in the interior many rooms are splendid, mostly 
floored and walled with mosaic ; a number of ele- 
gant paintings, and marble and alabaster statues, 
equal to any I have seen; the fine gardens are 
filled with orange and lemon trees, with a number 
of terraces, and the whole decorated with statues, 
flower-pots with plants, and every thing that can 
enchant the eye or the imagination. All this re- 
minded me of the Island of Telemachus, but with- 
out the number of beautiful females, or nymphs, to 
decorate it. One island is nearer the shore, where 
the family now reside; but we were allowed to 
visit every part of it. Here are all the apartments 
one could find in a palace, and indeed it is a palace 
of a private nobleman, with its gardens filled with 
all kinds of exotic fruit trees and plants ; the whole 
has an enchanting appearance. The island con- 
tains but a few acres, and is terminated by many 
rocks, which are adorned by a variety of broad- 
leaved plants, which I have not been accustomed 
to see. Exotics of all kinds flourish here ; and, in 



166 rapelje's narrative. 

winter, the extensive orangeries are some way 
heated, and covered with timber, and the garden 
can be promenaded as in summer. It must have 
been done at a vast expense, as the islands appear 
to be almost all made soil; and a wall rises on 
many sides vertically from the beautiful lake, and 
the foundations of two or three of the sides are in 
the water. I saw on one, all kinds of East India 
birds, and poultry ; the Chinese pheasant, a beau- 
tiful bird, and several others ; a white pea-hen, and 
white turtle-doves. The island is inhabited by a 
number of poor creatures, that appeared like so 
many beggars. One part of the centre building is 
raised, but there is no roof; the bare walls, with 
its windows, have a ruinous look. I came back 
highly delighted; ate some very fine pears, pur- 
chased of the fruit girls on the island. The islands 
are called Isola Madre, and Isola Bella. From 
the lake a number of towns, villages, chapels, 
monuments, and remarkable buildings, are seen; 
the boats on the lake are flat-bottomed, with a 
painted stem and stern, and the rowers stand up, 
with their faces to the bow, rowing with two oars, 
and every pull taking two or three short steps 
forwards and backwards. The company sit in 
the fore part of the boat. An awning is made by 
bent poles, two twisted for an arch, and white 
strong linen put over them. There is commonly 
a table in the middle of the boat, on which are 



rapelje's narrative, 167 

refreshments. I stayed at Laerno, on the lake, a 
small town; I could not get a conveyance to 
Cosmo. 

Thursday, September 27th, I proceeded in a 
return carabanca, with one horse, as the road is 
good to Cosmo, on the lake of that name ; and put 
up at the Crown Hotel. I went on the lake to 
view the palace formerly occupied by the Queen 
of England, the wife of George the Fourth. The 
lake is surrounded by high hills or mountains, and 
on them are immense numbers of very large houses, 
and also villages, rising above one another nearly 
to the summit of these eminences. I could not 
imagine how persons, especially families, could 
admire to reside on the side of these steep hills, 
without the comfort of a carriage. The lake is 
beautiful, but it is like stagnant water ; neither this 
or Lake Maggiora is, in my opinion, equal to Lake 
Leman, or that of Geneva. The river Rhone, as 
they say, running through the Genevan lake, gives 
the waters a lively appearance, and the views are 
finer and bolder. I now began to find the Italians 
demand exhorbitantly for every thing at their ho- 
tels, and for travelling. At Varells, where I break- 
fasted, on the way to Cosmo, I saw very fine fruit, 
among which were the largest peaches I ever saw ; 
also grapes, and fine vergalean pears ; the grapes 
in great abundance. On each side of the road, 
and even in the streets, are many vines, and the 
fields contain some fine vineyards ; the grapes hang 



168 rapelje's narrative. 

in large clusters, and in abundance. I went on to 
Milan, a distance of twenty-five miles from Cos- 
mo; we had a level road near the whole way. 
After leaving Cosmo, I passed through Barlessino 
to breakfast, but could not get a dish of coffee ; 
but at the inn there was a person who spoke Eng- 
lish, and hearing I was an American, invited me 
to go to his house opposite, and he with pleasure 
would give me some. I thought it was civil and 
kind, and as I am always hurt when my kindness 
is repelled, I accepted his invitation, and went 
with him. I was highly gratified in seeing his 
elegant country place, and had a delightful dish of 
coffee, with some sweet, fresh butter. He was a 
Mr. Porri, of the house of Porri and Rinaldi, who 
were some years ago merchants in Broadway, 
New-York, in the looking-glass and print line. 
He was a native of Cosmo, and had a town-house 
in Milan, and purchased here, at Barlassino, twelve 
miles from Milan, about two thousand acres of 
land, with an elegant house and gardens, for five 
thousand dollars, now worth fifty thousand. I then 
proceeded on to Milan, over an elegant road, and 
got in at one o'clock. I put up at the Royal Ho- 
tel, but it was so full I could scarcely get a cham- 
ber, and it is the custom in Italy to serve you in 
your own apartments with dinner ; there being no 
table d'otes, as in France, Switzerland, &c. &c. I 
had a nice dinner in the French style of entre- 
mons, consisting of soup, vermacelli, three mutton 



rapelje's narrative. 169 

cutlets, and pullet and potatoes; then another 
course, of pigeons, green peas, stewed peaches; 
then Parmasan cheese, white and black, with fine 
grapes, cakes, and superior peaches, &c. I then 
vicAved the great Cathedral church. I had seen 
many cathedrals in England, France, Switzerland 
and Prussia, but this superb mountain of marble, 
called Duomo, is the most magnificent in the 
world, except St. Peter's. After seeing this, it is 
not worth while to look at any other, only as you 
may wish to compare any thing far inferior. There 
are, within and without, an immense number of 
marble statues, great and small, from the great 
colossal figures of the four Evangelists, to the most 
minute entablature of a few inches. To describe 
them would require a long time, even if one were 
well versed in sculpture ; also the painted windows, 
on which are exhibited all the Scripture pieces, 
from the creation downw^ards. There are also 
chapels underneath. The building is adorned 
with a great number of pointed spires or turrets, 
with large statues on the tops of each, and on dif- 
ferent angles, and points mounting to the clouds, 
finished, they say, by order of Bonaparte. The 
architecture is light and elegant, exhibiting much 
excellent workmanship in pure white marble. On 
the exterior and interior there are immense co- 
lums of granite, surmounted with figures of bronze. 
The streets are most of them very narrow and 
crooked. I visited several churches, built of por- 
9Ji 



170 rapelje's narrative. 

phyry, marble, or granite, with white marble co- 
lumns, adorned with statues of bronze and brass 
in almost every shape, figure, and device. The 
mosaic of the concave part of the choir and dome, 
as also the front of the altar of St. Ambrose, are 
said to be among the most singular works of the 
ninth century. The statues of Adam and Eve, in 
the front of one of the churches, one on each side 
of the centre door, are the most perfect models, 
according to my taste, I have ever seen. There 
are, in these edifices, paintings, statues, and carv- 
ing in wood, almost without end. Sixteen fluted 
columns, being all that remain of the portico to 
St. Lorenzo, are monuments of great antiquity; 
they are much injured by time, and are held to- 
gether by several iron bands put round each. 
The walks and rides about the environs are fine, 
with a spacious amphitheatre, not covered in, but 
seats cut out and sodded, and said to have been 
done by order of Bonaparte. I found very few 
persons who could speak English, but my conduc- 
tor spoke it very well ; he was a Milanese. I went 
on the top roof of the cathedral, which was com- 
posed of large slabs of marble, instead of tin, brass, 
or slate ; and from the steeple had a view of a fine, 
fertile, level country, that surrounds Milan. The 
steeple, as well as the roof, was all marble. I 
saw a small church, the interior walls of which, 
quite to the ceiling, were studded with human 
skulls, and all other bones of the human body, not 



rapelje's narrative. 171 

a few, but thousands, taken from near the spot 
where the church is built, and were the bones of 
those who, in ancient times, fell in the conflict 
with the Cretans. This Golgotha was the stran- 
gest of all the sights I had yet seen. In the eve- 
ning I w^ent to the opera ; the house was the lar- 
gest I had yet been in, with six tiers of boxes, and 
an immense pit ; the stage, scenery, and perform- 
ances, were superior to whatever I had before 
seen of theatrical performances. The house was 
tolerably well attended ; the boxes were all pri- 
vate, and there were no lights around about the 
boxes. I had a letter to Mr. Talluchio of Milan. 

Sunday, September 30th. — I visited the Gallery 
of Paintings ; many of them were by the first Ital- 
ian painters ; some of them were very ancient. Ra- 
phael's Virgin Mary and Joseph were among them ; 
but I thought these were not any equal to what 
I had before seen. The building is a fine, plain, 
strong piece of architecture, with colonnades 
around the court-yard on the first ascent of steps. 

On Monday, October 1st, I set off at six in the 
morning, by a diligence, for Venice, and travelled 
through several towns, on a fine level road. It 
was seldom that we were out of sight of a stream 
of water; canals, and rivers, and brooks, are nu- 
merous upon this route. The country is a perfect 
garden of fruit trees, interspersed with grapes, 
which they were then gathering for the wine- 
press. I saw the people going with carts and 



172 rapelje's narrative. 

wagon loads, all day, from the vineyards. The 
grapes were very fine, as also the pears and 
peaches. This day I travelled fifty miles, and 
slept at Brescia, a large city, containing fifty thou- 
sand inhabitants. In the evening I went to the 
theatre, whicli is very large and splendid. 

Tuesday, October 2d. — At five in the morning, 
I left Brescia, in the diligence, for Verona, and for 
some distance passed the Lake de Garda, or Be- 
nacus, which is thirty-five miles long, and twelve 
broad. I went through several villages, mostly 
inhabited by the farmers, peasants, &c. This be- 
ing the time of their vintage, the girls, women, 
boys, and men, were all employed gathering the 
grapes, and the road was crowded with ox carts 
or wagons, with large vats, or pipes, of an im- 
mense size, and all filled with grapes to be ex- 
pressed ; the presses belong in the villages. The 
road was quite level, and the fields looked like 
gardens. They were filled with mulberry trees 
for the silk-worms, with grape vines running over 
them, stretched from one to another. I arrived at 
Verona at three o'clock. This town is situated on 
the Adige, a swiftly running river, that turns large 
wheels to raise water, and there are also mills for 
grinding. Verona is a large city, containing forty 
thousand inhabitants, and boasts of its great anti- 
quity, and they show some Roman relics. The 
large amphitheatre, or arena, in reality was the 
only thing of the kind I had seen. It is said it will 



rapelje's narrative. 173 

hold twenty-two thousand people. It is made of 
marble, and is about thirteen hundred feet in cir- 
cumference on the outside ; the inside, or arena, is 
about six or seven hundred feet in circumference. 
It is not covered. There are forty-five ranges of 
seats of marble, but not smoothed or polished. 
There are some other Roman curiosities, such as 
a gateway, or porch, of stone, having formerly 
made an entrance into the city. There are here 
some fine churches ; are ornamented with pictures 
by Guido, &c. In the evening, with the other 
passengers, I visited a fine large theatre; in it 
there are no lights around the boxes, the stage 
only is illuminated. 

On Wednesday, October 3d, I left Verona at 
five o'clock in the morning in the diligence. The 
mornings began to be very chilly. We passed, as 
usual, through several villages, and breakfasted at 
Vicenza, a large city, containing many ancient 
models of architecture of different orders, public 
and private, by Palladio. I saw the house where 
he had resided. We only breakfasted, but could 
not stay to visit many other curiosities. The 
Olympic theatre, designed and built by him, and 
the building in which he died, and the town hall, 
are good old edifices, in a dilapidated state. We 
proceeded on to Padua, where we arrived at eve- 
ning, a little before dark, so that I did not see 
much of it. The celebrity and antiquity of its 
architecture is equal to any in Italy, both in Vico- 



174 rapelje's narrative. 

naza and Padua, especially in Verona. The fronts 
of many of the houses displayed all the variety 
of the different orders. I visited several churches. 
In each place there are many fine statues, pictures, 
and pieces of sculpture. I w^ent on towards 
Venice, along the river Brenta, a narrovr stream, 
but the houses and gardens on each side make it 
quite enchanting. All along the country from 
Milan, and especially here, the grapes in immense 
numbers line the roads, the vines running over 
long rows of mulberry trees, planted all among 
the Indian corn or maize, which grows here finely. 
It was now the vintage time for gathering the 
corn. They do not manage as we do in America. 
They bring the corn home, the rest of the grains 
they thrash on a floor made in the field. The 
making of the wine is simple ; they fill large tight 
ox wagons, drawn by two pair of oxen, in the 
field, then cart it to their houses, and put the vehi- 
cle under the shed, or in a barn, sometimes in an 
open place, and then go and trample on the 
bunches of grapes with their feet, and in that 
way tread and trample the juice out, which runs 
through a hole in the bottom of the tail-board of 
the wagon into tubs. The wine is then put into 
large long narrow pipes, and then is taken to the 
cellar. This mode of pressing would half cure a 
wine-bibber of his love of it. 

We had to quit the diligence five miles from 
Venice, and got into a boat, called a gondola, ac- 



rapelje's narrative. 175 

companied by a soldier, who took our passports. 
We arrived at Venice at two o'clock in the morn- 
ing, Thursday, October 4th. Their gondolas are 
long boats, rowed by four men, sometimes only 
three, with their faces to the bow, standing up. 
As Venice is built on several islands, and the 
streets so narrow, no carriages are used; the 
whole city, like Amsterdam, is dissected or cut up 
by canals, and these boats are used instead of car- 
riages. I put up at the Grand Britannic Hotel, on 
the grand canal, not far from the Rialto. This is 
a bridge over the great canal that forms a sort of 
bend, and divides the city nearly in two parts. I 
went to see St. Mark's Cathedral ; on the front are 
the four bronze horses, taken by Bonaparte, and 
again sent back to their old place, when the allies 
had taken Paris. There are five domes to this 
church ; in the interior, the concaves are all de- 
corated with mosaic, on gold grounds, and are very 
magnificent. The front presents an unique appear- 
ance of many different statues, figures, and carv- 
ings, and indeed, there is such a jumble of arch- 
es, carvings, windows, &c., that you hardly know 
what order of architecture it is of; and indeed, a 
great part of the construction of the convenient or 
comfortable part of the building is lost in the exe- 
cution and show of the ancient and modern styles 
of architecture in Europe. There is a small pro- 
menade, a garden or park, at the west part of 
the city, handsomely situated on the river, which 



176 rapelje's narrative. 

commands a fine view of the several islands, on 
vrhich the city is erected. The elegant churches, 
convents, palaces, and other large buildings, give 
the whole view an imposing and beautiful appear- 
ance. Venice is situated on the Adriatic Sea, 
called the Gulf of Venice. St. Mark's square is 
all flagged over ; there are orchards on each side, 
and many caffees, and it is the great promenade. 
The Britannia is a hotel I would not recommend ; 
I could get nothing without waiting a great 
while for it ; the one next is preferable, and well 
attended. Venice is, indeed, fallen from the great- 
est to the most forlorn and sunken state. I saw 
few or no inhabitants in these great palaces. I 
went in a boat or gondola to see several churches ; 
they were filled with statues, paintings, and sculp- 
ture of all kinds, and are of many kinds of archi- 
tecture, exhibiting the skill of many architects; 
Palladio's designs seemed to be the most liked. In 
the church, called St. John's and St. Paul's, one 
church, but having these two names, I found the 
most exquisite sculpture, in a dozen basso-relievos, 
or large tablets ; the figures were not so large as 
life, but, I suppose, from a foot or two, or two and 
a half feet in length, each figure, and all in groups 
and tablets of different sizes, all in fine white mar- 
ble, done by Bonnazza and Tagliapetro ; these 
are in a small chapel of the church, called the 
rosary. 

The whole history of Venice, and its present 



rapelje's narrative. 177 

appearance, is full of deep interest, but no one 
can give a better description of it than the English 
Lord Byron. He saw the decay of ages at every 
glance, and his soul reflected all such images with 
the power of a kaleidoscope. Who does not feel 
the beauty of the following lines ? 

I stood in Venice, on the Bridge of Sighs ; 
A palace and a prison on each hand : 
I saw from out the wave her structures rise 
As from the stroke of the enchanter's wand ; 
A thousand years their cloudy wings expand 
Around me, and a dying glory smiles 
O'er the far times, when many a subject land 
Look'd to the winged Lion's marble piles, 
Where Venice sate in state, throned on her hundred isles ! 

She looks a sea Cybele, fresh from ocean, 
Rising with her tiara of proud towers 
At airy distance, with majestic motion, 
A ruler of the waters and their powers : 
And such she was ; — her daughters had their dowers 
From spoils of nations, and the exhaustless East 
Pour'd in her lap all gems in sparkling showers : 
In purple was she robed, and of her feast 
Monarchs partook, and deem'd then: dignity increased. 

In Venice Tasso's echoes are no more, 
And silent rows the songless gondoher ; 
Her palaces are crumbhng to the shore. 
And music meets not always now the ear : 
Those days are gone— but beauty still is here. 
States fall, arts fade— but Nature doth not die: 
Nor yet forget how Venice once was dear, 
The pleasant place of all festivity, 
The revel of the earth, the masque of Italy ! 

But unto us she hath a spell beyond 

Her name in story, and her long array 

Of mighty shadows, whose dim forms despond 

Above the dogeless city's vanish'd sway ; 

Ours is a trophy which will not decay 

23 



ITS rapelje's narrative. 

With the Rialto ; Shylock and the Moor, 
And Pielre, cannot be swept or worn away — 
The keystones of the arch ! though all were o'erj 
For us re-peopled were the soUtary shore. 

The beings of the mind are not of clay ; 
Essentially immortal, they create 
And multiply in us a brighter ray 
And more beloved existence : that which fate 
Prohibits to dull life, in this our state 
Of mortal bondage, by these spirits supplied 
First exiles, then replaces what we hate; 
Watering the heart whose early flowers have died, 
And with a fresher growth replenishing the void. 

On Saturday, October 6tli, I set off at eight 
o'clock in the evening, in a large boat, vrith mise- 
rable accommodations ; the cabin was stowed full 
of goods, and we had a very uncomfortable passage 
to Bologna, a hundred and twenty miles from Ve- 
nice ; there were several passengers, a Mr. Galva- 
ni, nephew to Galvani, who discovered galvanism, 
a scientific, genteel man, and an Englishman, who, 
of all the English I have yet seen, was the most 
disagreeable. Although he could speak French, 
and also Italian, he w^as so disagreeably self- 
ish, or haughty, that he would not open his lips at 
all to explain or assist me in asking for any thing 
I wanted ; his name I will not mention. We went 
through the canal, and then got into the river Po, 
which was very fine, and the largest or one of the 
widest I had seen in Europe. 

On Monday, October 8th, we disembarked and 
went by land to Ferrara, and then to Bologna. 
The country was all level, and filled with vine- 



179 

yards, with great aljundance of grapes and other 
fruit ; the soil was excellent. This is an immense 
plain or valley between the Appenines and the 
Alps ; there were immense banks, or dykes, to 
keep out the water, as formerly it was covered 
with it, or overflowed as a marsh. In many places 
the marsh is still visible. We got into Bologna at 
seven o'clock. 

On Tuesday, October 9th, I visited several 
churches. St. Petronius, in the square, built in the 
year 432, repaired in 1300, is of brick. In this 
square is the famous meridian of Cassini. There 
are many other churches, as St. Peter's and St. 
Paul's, and the Dominican's, with paintings and 
sculpture, as usual. I also visited the institution 
dedicated to science and the arts, where I saw 
anatomical preparations both natural and in wax, 
in all the variety of forms of nature, in health and 
disease. There is an immense library here, and also 
philosophical and astronomical apparatus, with 
a large collection of antiquities, and a fine col- 
lection of original paintings, by their first masters, 
such as Guido, Gratian, Guglielme, Dominc, and 
Albano, who were all born here. Gratian's paint- 
ings I thought the most of. This also was the 
birth-place of Galvana, the discoverer of galvanic 
electricity, of whom there was an excellent paint- 
ing, and said to be a great likeness. You can 
walk through the city under arcades, as most of 
the houses arc built over arches, which serve to 



180 rapelje's narrative. 

make a dry walk when it rains, and is an excel- 
lent plan, both in wet weather, and when the 
sun is hot. 

Wednesday, October 10th. — The Italian coach- 
men, or veterinis, are very deceitful ; they engaged 
to go this morning at five, then at nine, then at 
twelve, and finally did not go at all this day. I 
visited the Cemetria Campo Sancto, or burying- 
ground, which is handsomely laid out. The poor 
are interred in large open square places, planted 
around with ridges, and cypress, forming pyramids 
every twenty or thirty feet in the green hedge 
rows, which are kept in very good order. There 
is a church, and cloisters very lengthy ; it was for- 
merly a convent. In these cloisters the opulent 
are interred. There are sculptured marble monu- 
ments, some elegant, and of the purest and whitest 
material I have seen ; as also many in plaster, 
elegantly designed and well executed. In one of 
the angular courts of this monastery are the skulls 
and bones of immense numbers of persons, trans- 
ported hither, arranged on tablets, with the names 
of the former possessors inscribed ; they, together 
with the tombs, and many sculptured ornaments, 
were brought from the Convent of Capuchins, a 
place which the ladies of beauty and rank choose 
as their long and last abode ; in the cliurch, and 
some of the cloisters, are paintings well executed 
by some of the first masters and their pupils of the 
Bologna school. In the evening I went to the 



rapelje's narrative. 181 

opera, where there was excellent music, and a 
good female voice in Signora Scula. I also visited 
the chapel, Notre Dame, Delia Guerdia. The 
road is three miles long ; being on a hill, you as- 
cend all the way under an arch, or covered way 
of arches; one side is the wall of the adjoining 
grounds. The church is in form of a Greek cross. 

Thursday, October 11th. — At six in the morn- 
ing I set off in a reterino for Florence, a distance 
of seventy miles. At a few miles from Bologna, I 
reached the Apennines, and continued all day up 
and down hill through an unfertile country ; all 
the houses of the peasants miserably dirty, and 
the inns on the road, bad. I put up for the night 
in one of these inns, where an Italian gentleman 
and lady, his wife, another, and myself were put 
to sleep in one room. 

Friday, October 12th. — We continued passing 
over the Apennines, and every now and then had 
a fme view of a small winding stream or river 
below in the valley. When about five miles from 
Florence, I had a long, beautiful view of it. The 
country here was cultivated like a garden, and 
here, for the first time, I saw olive trees ; within a 
few miles of Florence are orchards of olives with 
vines running over them ; the grapes are very fine^ 
especially two kinds, as at Bologna ; they are 
called the i^taradisa, or oval, and the angola, which 
are round; both white, and very delicious, as is 
also their Tuscany wine. The figs at Florence 



162 rapelje's narrative, 

are excellent ; I had before heard of them, but 
never ate a fig with any thing like a fine flavor 
before. The view of Florence, descending from 
the Apennine hills towards the city, in the valley 
of Arno, as it is called, surrounded by mountains, is 
beautiful, and appears a paradise, w^ith the river 
Arno, w^hich is seen with the delightful places 
about it ; and the beautiful valley as far as the 
eye can extend, covered with houses, and gardens 
filled with olives, figs, grapes, pomegranates, &c. 
We arrived at six, passing a beautiful trium- 
phal arch, adorned with statues at the entrance 
of one of the gates, St. Galo, and erected in honor 
of Francis I. 

Saturday, October 13th, I saw many churches, 
among others, the cathedral. Its walls are very 
strong, the outside of which are of white and black 
marble, and the whole interior floor is paved with 
variegated marble, of diflerent sizes, and beauti- 
fully disposed, (as it is said,) by Michael Angelo. 
Many marble statues ornament it; within and 
without there are works of the most eminent 
sculptors. Its dome is very fine and ancient, and 
of peculiar architecture, without support of pillars. 
Opposite the church, is what they call the baptis- 
try, a small chapel of an octagon form. There are 
three very large double bronze, or rather brass 
doors, grown black by age; the basso and alto 
relievos are excellent. There are groups of small 
figures in every pannel ; and these gates, so much 



rapelje's narrative. 183 

admired by Michael Angelo, used to be styled the 
Gates of Paradise. The interior is also decorated 
with fine marble sculpture ; the belfry is a square 
detached column, very high, and, like the church, 
is carved with marble of different colors, and orna- 
mented with small statues. It is a light airy 
column, and the upper part and cornice are beau- 
tiful. The church is a vast edifice, and the cupola 
equal to the church in magnificence. St. Lorenzo 
is also noted for its famous chapel of the Medicis, 
now erecting along side of it, of an octagonal 
shape, but at present is only half finished. The 
walls are nearly completed to the cornice, whence 
the dome or ceiling springs, all lined with the 
richest and most tasteful marble and precious 
stones, with their high polish, all admirably exe- 
cuted in their proper colors and brilliancy, consist- 
ing of porphyry, jasper, onyx, circumscribed with 
lapis lazuli, and pearls. Every compartment of 
the octagon has a sarcophagus of oriental granite, 
of vast size. This is the richest and most elegant 
piece of modern design and mechanical workman- 
ship, of art and genius, I have ever seen. One of 
the variegated slabs was so highly polished, that 
I saw my face ; and the interior of the other side, 
as if it was in the best mirror. In the church An- 
nunciato are some good paintings by Andrea Del 
Tarto, whose monument is in one of the porches. 

There are some handsome walks and rides in 
the environs. The best hotel is the York, kept by 



184 

an English lady. The streets all through are pa- 
ved or flagged with large flat stones, put together 
without being squared ; but, considering the stones 
are of all shapes, the surface is made very even. 
The gutters are in the middle of the streets, and 
many are very narrow. The houses are immense 
and uncomfortable looking palaces, with great 
projecting cornices. 

Sunday, October 14th, I visited the church St. 
Croce, which is large, and contains many fine 
paintings and statues, or rather monuments ; among 
which there is one to Michael Angelo, his bust, 
done by himself. On the monument are three 
beautiful female figures, elegantly sculptured, re- 
presenting painting, sculpture, and architecture, 
deploring the loss they have sustained ; as also a 
monument to the illustrious Galileo. The best 
paintings are by Gieto, Cimebul, and other masters. 
I then walked to the garden, or promenade, called 
Boboli, in the rear of the large palace called Pitti. 
This garden is adorned with numbers of elegant 
walks, fountains, and statues ; one basin of granite, 
twenty feet diameter, in the centre of a large cir- 
cular pond, filled with red and other colored fish, 
and surrounded with orange and lemon trees, 
which, when I saw them, were crowded with fruit. 
In the evening I went to the grand opera, where, 
as usual, all the performance was chanted or sung 
by fine male and female voices, accompanied by 
an orchestra, in which were about fifty perform- 



rapelje's narrative. 185 

ers. It is a large handsome interior, with five 
rows of boxes. There were not as many persons 
walking or riding as I expected to have seen. 

Monday, October 15th. — I went to the cabinet 
gallery of paintings and sculpture, where was 
the famous Venus de Medicis, but this piece of 
sculpture was not equal to what I expected to 
have seen. The finest painting was in the octa- 
gon gallery, of a recumbent nudity by Titian ; the 
coloring was fine. All the galleries were stored 
with paintings of every size by all the first mas- 
ters ; the different galleries were filled by the 
artists of different countries, of Holland, France, 
Germany, and Italy ; there were also different 
rooms filled with antiques, precious stones, medals, 
and tables of the most beautiful and tasteful mo- 
saic, inlaid with the largest and richest pearls ; an 
urn of onyx about eight inches in height, a very 
valuable article. In another gallery there were a 
number of bronze statues, figures, &c., with an- 
tique vases of all kinds. I called on the American 
vice-consul, Seignor James Ambrose, who politely 
returned the visit, and left his card. 

Tuesday, October 16th. — I visited the museum, 
which was filled with all kinds of anatomical pre- 
parations in wax, and more elegant than any I had 
seen ; also, cabinets of natural history and of mine- 
ralogy, full of all kinds of specimens in the mine- 
ral and animal world, and in their highest state of 
preservation. I then visited the cabinet of paint- 
24 



186 rapelje's narrative. 

ings, rather called the school of fine arts, where 
there were some very ancient productions. In the 
latter part of the day, I set off in the post-coach 
that carries the mail, for Rome, in which I rode 
all night and the next day, over a hilly country, 
as well as the following night, and arrived at 
Rome on Thursday, October 18th, at one o'clock. 
The distance from Florence is one hundred and 
ninety-three miles. The road, until within ten 
miles from Rome, was bad, and the country sterile, 
without houses, and appeared like a desert up to 
the very gates of the city. I remained this night 
at the Britannia Hotel. I went to the Castle St. 
Angelo, a very strong circular fortress, having a 
guard of soldiers, and situated on the Tiber, at the 
end of the Angel Bridge. It is a large, imposing 
fortification, having on the top a large collossal 
statue in bronze of Michael Angelo. The bridge 
has ten elegant collossal statues in marble, five on 
each side, equal to any I have seen. I then went 
to St. Peter's ! yes, St. Peter's, at Rome ! ! ! It is, 
indeed, a monument of human genius ; it is beyond 
description from my pen; the vast length and 
breadth of the church does not appear so great as 
it is, on account of the beautiful proportion ; every 
thing about it is elegant ; all kinds of marble co- 
lumns, statues, vases, and every kind of sculpture 
that can be desired. I will not attempt a particu- 
lar description of this magnificent and sublime edi- 
fice, but only remark that, after visiting and seeing 



RAPELJE S NARRATIVE. 



187 



it, it is really not worth while to look at any other 
edifice in the form of a church, for St. Peter's has 
all whatever others have, and a peculiarity of its 
own, that no others have ; height, length, strength, 
beauty, and a harmonious proportion ; and the im- 
mense quantity of all kind of color and size of 
granite, marble, porphyry, onyx, antique verdes, 
alabaster, lapis lazuli, &c. &c., beggars all de- 
scription, as also the groups of mosaical figures 
of such vast size, that you take them as the most 
magnificent painting. 

I then went to the capitol, or senate-house, 
where are busts, statues, antiques, paintings, and 
the government chambers, and busts and figures 
of all the ancient Romans who figured in the city 
and country for ages and ages. This capitol, or 
senate-house, is nothing extraordinary ; it is situa- 
ted on a high hill, surrounded by other buildings. 
I then went along by Trajan's Pillar, a beautiful 
Tuscan column, standing in a sunken kind of re- 
servoir, containing the ruins of a number of large 
granite columns, all broken in the centre, and 
lying one half on the ground. This is called 
Piatza Trajana, being a vsmall square, and indeed 
all the squares are called piatzes. I removed from 
the Britannia Hotel to No. 17 Strada-street, Bas- 
tionella, near the piatza, or square Del Espania, 
in a private house, where there were no females, 
kept by an old man; it was very quiet and plea- 



188 rapelje's narrative. 

sant, as well as very reasonable ; at two padi a 
night for my bed-room. 

Saturday, October 20th. — I saw the church 
Trinata Del Monte, which had an obelisk in front ; 
I walked in the garden of Villa de Medicis, near 
the church, and just above where I lodged. The 
Piatza Navona, a large oblong square, the largest 
and dirtiest in Rome, where the fountains are ele- 
gant, arising from an immense rock, with four col- 
lossal figures spouting water, and crowned with 
an Egyptian obelisk, fifty-three feet high. I then 
went along the Strada de Corsa, and came to the 
ruins of ancient Rome ; one of them is the arch of 
Septimus. Before I came there, I saw the palace 
of Venetia, a large uncouth building, and I also 
passed the column of Antonine, which was much 
like Trajan's. I went through the street Via Mar- 
firio, to Arch Septimus and Campo Vaccino, for- 
merly Foro Romano, as Gaglianeni says in his 
Stinera. Every inch is now classic ground ; ruins 
appear in every direction ; above, and under 
ground, columns here and there, and shafts of co- 
lumns, half buried, &c., with walks half demolish- 
ed, and where they have dug ; fifteen or eighteen 
feet lower than the present surface, perhaps is the 
foundation of these ancient columns or arches. 
Then I went on, and the ruins of the once stupen- 
dous Roman Amphitheatre, or Collisseum, was be- 
fore me ; I was struck with silent and awful asto- 



rapelje's narrative. 189 

nishment. The beautiful arch of Titus and Con- 
stantine, and Faustina were all before me. I 
then went on to the church of St. John. The 
Lateran is a beautiful interior, with immense ele- 
gant collossal statues, and is considered among 
the grandest in Rome, next to St. Peter's. The 
interior is very noble, and not at all overloaded 
with ornament, which is the fault of most churches. 
In fact this is carried so far as perfectly to con- 
fuse one's sight and ideas. The statues are six in 
number, on each side of the nave, of fifteen feet in 
height, representing the twelve apostles, with their 
appropriate insignia. 

Sunday, October 21st. — I rose at six, and 
walked up the Mount Trinity, and in the way, 
went into several churches. They all, as usual, 
were filled with people at prayer. I then pro- 
ceeded on through several streets to the Pope's 
Palace, called the Q,uirinal, on Monte Cavello, 
where there is a large obelisk ; close on one side 
of it is a fine fountain, and on the side of the obe- 
lisk are large equestrian collossal statues in bronze. 
The gigantic figures are in the attitudes of leading 
the collossal horses. The palace of the Pope is 
large and extensive, having a large oblong court, 
all kept remarkably clean. The air on this hill is 
said to be very salubrious, and to this place the 
Pope removes from the Vatican during the sum- 
mer. It has all the splendor of a magnificent pa- 
lace, with its stables and gardens ; and here is a 



190 

beautiful flight of circular stairs without banisters, 
but all supported by large columns, two together, 
about a foot in diameter, and perhaps six or eight 
feet apart. I visited the pantheon church or ro- 
tunda, an elegant antique piece of architecture, 
perfectly circular, but was not originally intended 
for a church. I then went to St. Peter's ; it is the 
wonder of the imagination for elegance, symmetry, 
and beauty, with all kinds of statues and paintings, 
with gilded, ornamented ceilings ; then to the Va- 
tican ; an immense range of galleries, in an octa- 
gon form and circular. The apartments were of 
such beauteous forms and decorations, as asto- 
nished me quite as much as those in St. Peter's. I 
could not turn my eyes to the top, side, or floor, 
without beholding the most exquisite workman- 
ship in all kinds of materials ; sculpture in wood, 
bronze, mosaic, and the most beautiful marble 
floors, ceilings, walls, cornices, columns, of all co- 
lors, sizes, and figures, with all the ancient and 
perfect architectural orders ; then the great num- 
ber of statues, busts, and paintings of every kind, 
with gobelins and mosaic of every form, color, size, 
and age, and of every diff'erent period of the world, 
and of every nation, and more especially the great 
and small, cruel and good, as they once existed. 

Monday, October 22d. — There had been a great 
deal of rain for the last fortnight. I walked along 
the Tiber by the bridge Siste, anciently Pons Jan- 
iculensis, which I crossed to Transtevere ; passed 



rapelje's narrative. 191 

along the river ; it divides that part called Trans- 
tevere from the city of Rome. The inhabitants 
appeared to be a different people, miserable, dirty, 
and filthy; I speak of the rabble. The houses, 
streets, and all seemed in a state of ruin and deso- 
lation. I then crossed the Ponte Cestio, or Bridge 
of St. Bartholomew, to the little island of Isola 
Tiberina, or Island of Tiber, and on this Bridge, I 
had a fine view of the river and the Pons Senato- 
rius, now Ponte Rote ; only two or three arches of 
which remain ; it is very old. I then passed on to 
a little island, by the ancients dedicated to Escu- 
lapius, and crossed the Pons Fabricius into the 
city ; near this, I saw the famous and beautiful cir- 
cular Temple of Vesta, which is encircled with 
pillars, not very large ; and at a small distance 
from this, the Arch of Janus, quite below the pre- 
sent surface, but around its base is cleared away. 
Opposite the church, St. Georgio stands, as anti- 
quarians say, the house formerly of Sempronius ; 
near it is the Cloaca Maxima, built by Tarquin the 
Proud, to carry off the impurities of the city into 
the Tiber. The large drain under a high wall is 
still to be seen. Near this, I saw the Palatine 
Hill with its ruins ; went around it, and came to 
the Temple of Peace, a ruin of three immense 
arches, say a hundred feet wide, and as much in 
span and height; and as great a monument of 
their ancient buildings as any except the Amphithe- 



192 rapelje's narrative. 

atre or Collisseum ; they are both in sight, and not 
far from each other. 

Tuesday, October 23d. — I visited the Villa 
Borghesi, with its beautiful and extensive gardens 
or parks, elegantly laid out with statues, walks, 
shrubs, and all kinds of trees, delightfully situated, 
only a short distance from Porto Popalo ; the inte- 
rior is furnished and finished magnificently, and 
ornamented with paintings, mosaic work, and 
statues, all in a style of beauty, elegance, and 
grandeur, with all kinds of marble, inlaid tables, 
floors, &c. ; the whole, as is said, equals any sove- 
reign palace. in Europe, and is on the brow of the 
Pinician hill. The owner of this villa, Prince 
Borghesi, married Bonaparte's sister, and, as it 
was said, was threatened with confiscation of his 
estates, in case of refusal. The palace appears to 
have been plundered of its finest statues and orna- 
ments, where the walls are seen with the plaster 
and marble all torn off, and done, as the conductor 
told me, by Bonaparte, who sent them to Paris ; 
but whether before or after the marriage of his 
sister, I could not learn. 

Wednesday, October 24th. — I visited the Pa- 
lace Doria, in Strada, del Corsa, which I found to 
be very extensive, and filled with paintings and 
elegant tables of verde, oriental marble. I went 
in company with Miss Mills, an English lady, 
whom r met with, a very intelligent old maid, and 



rapelje's narrative, 193 

had an excellent knowledge of the historical ac- 
count of Rome, &c. &c. 

Thursday, October 25th. — I went to see the 
Ferme of Titus, as it is called, some old ruins of 
ancient Rome, perhaps, formerly baths. They 
pretend to go with lights to show you the long 
arches, dark passages, for what, no one knows • 
here are vases, jars, and vessels of all sizes and 
descriptions, and the place from which they had 
recently been dug up, and by the walls supposed 
to have been the splendid baths of Titus ; as others 
on the other side of the Collisseum had been the 
baths of Dioclesian ; and I saw the entrance to 
some of the catacombs, but did not enter them. I 
also went to the place, formerly called the Tarpe- 
ian Rock ; it was through a house in a small gar- 
den, where the conductors went to show me, 
which has a very high wall, over which I looked 
into a street below, and through which he wished 
to make me believe the Tiber formerly ran, or had 
its course, but now a few hundred feet distant. I 
met Mr. Haight of New- York, in the evening, and 
took my passage for Naples, for the following day. 
The drivers, as usual, disappointed me. I deli- 
vered a letter to St. Seignor Francisco Rosi Ci- 
ambellano de L. M. la duches a de Lala, a banker 
at Rome ; I brought a letter to him from Baron 
Ledor's brother, but he being in the country, 
left it. I then went to see the Pope's beautiful 
gardens in Monte Cavello. 
25 



194 rapelje's narrative. 

Saturday, October 27th. — I set off at eight in 
the morning for Naples, and passed many ancient 
vestiges of other days, and saw the ruins of several 
aqueducts. We travelled the Asia Via, but, in my 
opinion, is not a good road ; indeed, all the way to 
Naples, the road is the worst in repair of any I 
have passed in my travels. I passed Albano, and 
went on to Villetry, where we slept, a large an- 
cient town, about twenty-eight miles from Rome ; 
the veterino travelled very slow, seldom faster 
than a walk ; indeed, it was a miserable convey- 
ance. We passed over several hills in the way to 
Albano and Castle Gondalso. This was the 
neighborhood of the country, which Horace descri- 
bed nearly two thousand years before ; and here, 
from a small town at the top of a hill, we had a 
fine view of the Adriatic. The road winds over 
or between hills, rocks, and trees. I could not see 
Lake Albano as we went on to Villetry. The inns 
are but very indifferent. 

Sunday, October 28th. — I rose at three o'clock 
in the morning, and drove over a level road, called 
the Pontine Marshes, earlier in the season, subject 
to the malaria^ causing fevers, and got to Teracina, 
about forty-five miles, where we slept. This was 
anciently the town of the Volsci ; it is near the 
sea, and the last town of the Roman territory, on 
the borders of the kingdom of Naples. 

Monday, October 29th. — We went on to Milo 
de Gaeta ; the inn where we dined was most de- 



rapelje's narrative. 195 

lightfuUy situated, close to a beautiful bay of the 
Adriatic. Between the inn and bay, is a small 
garden, filled with oranges, lemons, figs, and 
grapes. 

Tuesday, October 30th. — We travelled over a 
road, winding through high hills ; at a distance 
the land appeared to be excellent, with fields 
covered with clover, trees, vineyards, figs, and 
gardens of oranges, citron, and lemons ; and 
reached Naples at six o'clock, and I put up for 
the night at the Hotel de France. 

Wednesday, October 31st. — The road from 
Rome to Naples, especially about Terracina, is so 
infested with banditti robbers, that several car- 
riages set out together from Rome, and travel to- 
gether, often taking the gens d'armes or the dra- 
goons, well mounted. The inhabitants are a 
cadaverous, miserable looking set of beings ; and 
instead of any remains of the inhabitants of 
ancient times, they and their houses appear as if 
bears and wolves had taken possession of the 
country. They have the finest country on earth, 
but the fact cannot be denied, they are in the 
utmost filth and poverty. We were constantly 
assailed by a host of beggars, whenever we stop- 
ped, half naked, and filthy. They are constantly 
bellowing out the names of the articles they have 
to sell. Every kind of mechanical work is carried 
on in the streets, and the streets of Naples swarm 
with people. 



196 rapelje's narrative. 

Thursday, November 1st. — The Bay of Na- 
ples is beautiful, but really not equal to the views 
of the Bay from the promenade of the Battery 
at New-York, in America. I observed Mount 
Vesuvius opposite, smoking from its summit. 

Friday, November 2d., and Saturday 3d. — I 
went out but little on these days, recovering myself 
from the fatigue of my journey, I walked to the 
garden at Casa, on one side of the city, along the 
bay, the most beautiful walk in the world. It is 
ornamented with several rows of trees, fountains, 
and statues ; and opposite is the Britannia Hotel^ 
the best and pleasantest in Naples. 

Sunday, November 4th. — I dined at half past five 
with Falconet, the banker ; in the evening he took 
me to the Grand Opera St. Carlos, with his wife, 
two daughters, and son. His wife was a Miss 
Hunter, of Rhode-Island. The Opera House is a 
magnificent building, all silvered and gilded in the 
interior, and very large, with excellent performan- 
ces. Falconet and his family all spoke Eng- 
lish. 

Monday, November 5th. — At half past five I di- 
ned with General Baron Leddever, to wdiom I had 
a letter from his brother in America, who is the 
Austrian consul in New- York. His wife was a 
pleasant little woman ; he has four fine boys ; he 
speaks but very little English. 

Tuesday, 6th; Wednesday, 7th; Thursday, 8th^ 
November. — I had a cold, and favored myself by 



rapelje's narrative. 197 

taking only short walks; the weather continued 
fine, but chilly. 

Friday, November 9th. — I went to Mount Ve- 
suvius, and rode to Portici, and Recina, and went 
down into the Theatre of Herculaneum, and saw 
the museum containing the antiquities of Hercula- 
neum and Pompeii, comprising paintings, vases, 
old iron, marble, and many other antiquarian 
matters. I then rode on an ass, upwards of three 
miles, to the Hermitage; rested, and took some 
refreshments; mounted again, and ascended over 
fields of lava, for about two and a half more 
miles, to the steep part of the cone ; I then dis- 
mounted, and took hold of a strap ; the guide 
gave me one end, the other part over his shoulder ; 
and in that way I began to mount over steep 
places of cinders, lava, and ashes, for about a 
mile. Every few minutes I found it necessary to 
stop and rest, as it was very steep, and very 
fatiguing. After some time, with perseverance I 
arrived at the summit, or crater; it was now 
constantly smoking, and had a strong sulphuric 
smell, which would nearly have suffocated me, if 
I had not used a handkerchief before my face. I 
went all around the crater, the wind blowing hard, 
and it was excessively cold. I had a fine view of 
the bay, and of Naples. I saw in the crater diffe- 
rent strata of ashes, and stone. It was expected, 
during the winter, an eruption would take place. 
1 then returned to the Hermitage, where lives a 



198 rapelje's narrative. 

friar. The asses only go with a slow walk. My 
ass was very sure-footed; where there were 
cracks in the lava, or any difficult or precari- 
ous places to put his feet, he put his head in- 
stantly down, so that his eyes nearly touched the 
ground to pick out his way. At the Hermitage I 
met with four Russian countesses, and a Russian 
count. They politely invited me to partake dinner 
with them, which they had brought, as also a 
cook ; they had two carriages and servants. One 
countess was a beautiful girl of fourteen years of 
age, with very amiable and agreeable manners, 
and spoke English remarkably well ; so I passed 
a very pleasant day, and returned by the light of 
the moon, which was shining in all its brilliancy, 
being in its full, and got to Naples at half-past ten. 
Saturday, November 10th. — I forgot to mention, 
that on one day this week, I assigned over to I. Is- 
lin, of Basle, in Switzerland, the last certificate of a 
thousand dollars, of the United States' stock, and 
gave a power of attorney, made by the American 
consul, Hammet, and left it with Mr. Falconet, the 
banker, the agent for Islin. I received of him one 
hundred dollars, eight hundred and eighty-three 
remaining due to me. I got for the same only nine 
hundred and eighty-three dollars, in America 
worth eleven hundred. On this day I had 
exchanged my lodgings from the Hotel de France 
to Madame Massinges, an English Lady, No. 7 
Larofo de Castello. 



rapelje's narrative. 199 

Sunday, November 11th. — I took a row out in 
the bay, a short distance; the day was fine, and the 
views beautiful. 

Monday, November 12th. — I went, in company 
with a gentleman, Mr. O'Hara, who lodged in the 
same house, to Pezzuoli. We passed through a 
narrow, long grotto cavern, or gallery, cut through 
the mountain. Over the entrance is what is called, 
Virgil's tomb. Why they mounted him up so high, 
I cannot tell. The cavern is a stupendous road, 
cut a quarter of a mile through a very high solid 
rock, and, to appearance, sixty feet, or more, in 
height, where lamps are kept constantly burning, 
but not a sufiicient number to make it very light. 
This cut shortens the distance about seven miles ; 
and, I believe, there is no other way to Pezzuoli. 
We saw the bay of Baia, which is covered with 
ruins, especially that of a bridge built by Caligula. 
After crossing the bay, we saw the Temples of 
Venus, Mercury, and Diana, and the Baths of Nero. 
The Elysian Fields surround the Mare Morte, or 
Dead Sea, a trifling lake. The residences of all 
the famous Romans were situated around the bay. 
We crossed the bay in a boat first, and then 
walked through vineyards to see those different 
small lakes of Lurcene, &c. I forgot to say, that 
the Mare Morte, surrounded by the Elysian 
Fields, is where, by the fable, Charon ferried over. 
We walked to see the Sybil's Grotto, on another 
part of the Bay Avernus. We also saw the hot 



200 rapelje's narrative. 

baths. There are walled, narrow passages to go 
to the hot water, which it is ridiculous to attempt ; 
we had to undress, the steam coming up from 
them was so great, and so warm, as almost took 
away our breath. We had to descend with torches. 
A boy who went with a pail to get some of the boil- 
ing hot water, to show me, came out covered with 
perspiration ; he cooked an egg in it, which I ate, 
Pezzuoli is a small town on the Bay Avernos. We 
saw the ruins of Csesar's residence, on the point 
of a hill on the bay. Part of the country is vol- 
canic. 

Tuesday, November 13th. — I went to see the St. 
Studio, or Museum of paintings and statues, which 
were but indifferent, by no means equal to what I 
had seen at Florence, or Rome. In the same 
building there are several rooms filled Avith all 
kinds of vessels, implements, furniture, and a little 
of every thing used by the inhabitants of a city, 
that were dug from Pompeii and Herculaneum ; 
the remains of a lady's toilet, with a number of 
teeth, brushes, and other implements for cleaning 
them ; also, a toilet-glass, and a small pot of 
rouge. I then walked to the Botanic Garden, 
which is very pretty. In the evening, I went to 
the Theatre, where there were fine singers, and 
ballet dances. 

Wednesday, November 14th. — I rode on a se- 
diola, a horrid, jolting, one horse cabriola, to Ca- 
serla, fifteen miles, a town, where there is a royal 



201 

palace, very magnificent, but not nearly completed ; 
in some of the chambers, or saloons, are walls of 
wood ; and the wood is really so painted or var- 
nished, as to resemble every kind of precious mar- 
ble. In other rooms, the walls, columns, and 
pilasters, are made of stucco composition, that, had 
I not been told, I should have taken for the most 
precious stones, and marble, as lapis lazuli, verde 
antique, alabaster, &c. It was a racking ride, 
and I came home quite ill. 

Thursday, 15th, Friday, 16th, and Saturday; 
17th. — My cold continued; and, finding my head 
and stomach much out of order, confined myself 
mostly to the house. 

Sunday, November 18th. — I went in company 
with Mr. Haight, of New- York, and a Mr. Searle, 
of Boston, to Pompeii, twelve miles, I saw the tra- 
gic and comic theatre, and the Temple of Iris. The 
finest and best preserved of all the buildings is 
the Amphitheatre. As I was very unwell, I did 
not proceed to see any thing more, but sat in the 
carriage upwards of an hour, while they visited 
the rest. 

On Monday, November 19th, my illness in- 
creased, my throat was inflamed, and I called on 
Dr. Riley, who prescribed for me. On Wednes- 
day, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, my weak- 
ness and loss of strength continued. 

Sunday, November 25th. — In the afternoon I 
moved my lodgings from Mrs. Messinges', Largo de 
2G 



202 rapelje's narrative. 

Castello, to Mr. and Mrs. Toose's, No. 92 Santa 
Lucia, in a fourth story room, more airy and more 
comfortable and quiet, than the one I had occu- 
pied, and paid for board and lodging with the fa- 
mily one dollar a day. I found them amiable, 
good people, I had the utmost difficulty to find 
any families who could speak English, and these 
did. 

Monday, November 26th. — I began to find my- 
self a little better, by the change of my lodging, 
but I still was indisposed. On Tuesday, I walked 
a little, and rode ; Dr. Riley still continuing to 
attend me. 

Wednesday, November 28th. — Yesterday I 
went in company with Mr. Toose, with whom I 
lodged, in a carriage, about four miles, to the 
Champ de Mars, to see a great Austrian review, 
sham-fights, &c. It is an elegant, extensive field ; 
there were seven thousand troops of all kinds, 
horse, foot, and artillery; the best dressed, and 
finest looking military men I had ever seen ; the 
uniforms of the musicians were various and splen- 
did, and the performances very fine. The old 
King was on horseback the whole time. I had 
a fine view of him ; he is quite old ; I also saw 
the three young princes, his grandsons ; the whole 
was very splendid, and immense numbers were out 
to see the parade. 

Thursday, November 29th. — I took a family 
dinner with Lieut. General Baron Lederer; the 



rapelje's narrative. 203 

weather had been very fine for the last week, and 
I found I was getting a little strength. 

Friday, November 30th. — I walked out, and 
rode along by Caia ; but still found myself very 
weak. 

Saturday, December 1st, and Sunday, 2d. — 
The weather continuing fine, I took a walk along 
Toledo, and heard the music of the bands of the 
guards at the palace. 

Monday, December 3d. — I began to recruit, as 
Mrs. Toose supplied me with every thing so good, 
and in the English style, so that I acquired appe- 
tite and strength. 

Tuesday, December 4th. — I walked to the 
post-ofiice, and thought it extraordinary there 
were no letters for me ; then took a walk along 
the Strada Toledo ; paid the Consul, Mr. Ham- 
met, a visit, also General Lederer; returned home 
at two o'clock, and partook of a nice dinner of 
excellent lamb, young pigeons, spinage, &c., 
delightfully cooked. I believe the changes in the 
dinners every day were so nice, and all so well 
dressed, that this materially advanced my resto- 
ration to health. Mrs. Toose kindly supplied me 
with a quantity of calf's foot jelly, Avhich aided the 
tone of my stomach, and I discharged and paid 
my physician. Dr. Riley. 

Thursday, December 6th. — I continued to gain 
strength, and walked to Malo, along the bay, and 
the Strada Toledo, it being a fine pleasant day. 



204 rapelje's narrative. 

Friday, December 7th. — I wrote a letter to 
my wife, and directed it to the care of Messrs. 
Earl & Co., Liverpool, and put it into the post- 
office ; and desired her to direct to me to their 
care at Liverpool. The day was cloudy and 
dull. 

Saturday, December 8th. — I went to the royal 
chapel in the palace, and had a great treat in 
hearing the eunuchs sing. There w^ere twelve in 
chorus; the solos, and duets, &c., were accompanied 
by the organ with a fine band of violins, bass viols, 
violoncellos, flageolets, fifes, flutes, French horns, 
bassoons, clarionets, &c., &c. Their voices were 
most enchanting, of every grade from the sweetest, 
softest, and finest female note to the boldest and 
deepest base. I continued to gain strength, and 
took a long walk. 

Sunday, December 9th. — I walked along the 
Strada Toledo, lounged into a Roman Chapel, 
called Monte de Vast, and heard a fine band of 
music, and the eunuchs singing most enchantingly ; 
and just got home a little after it had begun to 
rain, which continued the whole day ; the weather 
was quite raw and chilly, and I had had fire in 
my room for several days past. 

Monday, December 10th. — I walked out ; it 
was a fine day, but rather chilly. I went in the 
evening for a little while to the grand Opera, St. 
Carlo. I began to be quite hearty and strong, in 
this fine, clear, and pure air. 



rapelje's narrative. 205 

Tuesday, December 11th. — I went with Mr. 
Hammet, the American Consul, to the bay. He 
found me out a fine vessel, a Neapolitan brig ; and 
I engaged my passage to go to Messina, in the 
Island of Sicily, the last of the week. He went on 
board with me to see the accommodations. 

Wednesday, December 12th. — Mr. Hammet 
accompanied me to the police to have my pass- 
ports in readiness ; I also got a letter of credit for 
nine hundred ducats from Seignor Falcomb, (in 
whose hands my money was that I had of him for 
my United States' certificate of stock) to Messrs. 
Mendham, Cailler, & Co., at Messina. 

On Thursday, December 13th, I walked to 
several places, and went on board the Themisto- 
cles, Capt. Amadeo, to learn when she was to sail, 
which was to be on Saturday, they said ; and then 
bought some few articles, as silk neck handker- 
chiefs, woolen socks, flannels, night-caps, &c., &c. 

Friday, December 14th. — I hired a carriage, 
and rode twelve miles, near to Pompeii, in com- 
pany with Mr. and Mrs. Toose, and Mrs. Ber- 
riclge, an acquaintance of theirs, to see the coral 
manufactory, but was much disappointed, as they 
said it had been removed to Naples ; however, we 
dined there, and saw the large manufactory of 
macaroni and vermicelli. I took leave of Baron 
Lederer and family. 

Saturday, December 15th. — I lounged to seve- 
ral places ; the vessel was to have sailed, but did 



206 

not ; so, in the evening, I went, for the last time, 
to the grand Opera St. Carlo. It has six tiers of 
boxes, and is very splendid and large ; the pit, 
where I sat, is of immense size ; the orchestra is 
really nearly as large as our American pits, hold- 
ing about a hundred performers, and the music was 
very fine. In some part of the opera, a military 
band of about thirty or fifty was introduced on the 
stage, which, with those, made the finest music I 
ever heard. The stage was immensely large, the 
scenery beautiful, and the house was well filled. 
There was a ballet before the opera, in which 
were a number of girls, lightly dressed, with the 
gowns or frocks not lower than their knees, and 
flesh-colored stockinet drawers on, and they put 
themselves in almost every position that can be 
imagined, and purposely to excite the human 
passions ; in all the French and Italian opera 
houses it was the same. They dance elegantly, 
and certainly with the utmost grace ; as many 
often as twenty or thirty, with only two or three 
men, turning on one leg almost a dozen times, with 
the other extended. This is in the presence of 
ladies of the first rank and fashion, and, indeed, 
by all classes in Europe, and thought elegant 
amusement. O, tempora ! O, mores ! ! What 
would it be thought of in America 7 Then was 
the opera, from Sir Walter Scott's " Lady of the 
Lake," and afterwards another ballet, and masque- 
rade scene, which was the best and most enter- 



rapelje's narrative. 207 

taining piece I ever saw at any theatre. There 
were an immense number of performers, young 
and old, all well dressed, and in excellent charac- 
ters ; all were well supported. 

Sunday, December i6th. — I went to the mole 
to see if the vessel would sail, but it did not ; they 
had disappointed me since Friday, and were not 
punctual at all. I rode to the poor-house, called 
the Seraglio ; it was very dreary. On Monday, 
I walked to the gardens of Caia, along the bay, 
from my lodgings at Santa Lucia. The day was 
most delightful, quite warm and pleasant. I dined 
at two, and then went down to the mole, and 
went on board the Themistocles at four o'clock. 
She was a fine Neapolitan brigantine of two hun- 
dred and seventy tons ; and we set sail about six 
o'clock for Messina, about a hundred and fifty 
miles from Naples, with a very light wind; but 
as the night approached, the wind freshened by 
degrees. I supped at eight with the captain, and 
three other passengers, all Neapolitans. No one 
on board could speak a word of English, but they 
all appeared very civil. I, some how or other, by 
a few words of French and Italian, made them to 
understand me. The supper Avas, first, a dish of 
sallad, well dressed, with fine oil and vinegar; 
then a dish of something like sausages, but rather 
tough ; then cheese, with very fine cellery ; then 
apples, &c. ; boiled eggs in plenty were served 
during the whole meal ; wine was drank by turn- 



208 rapelje's narrative. 

biers full, and good bread was in great abun- 
dance, and also biscuit ; then fine apples and figs, 
for a desert. At half past ten I went to bed ; there 
was a fine fair wind ; I had the best state-room. 

Tuesday, December, 18th. — The vessel made 
but very little way in the night, about twenty 
miles, the wind being fair, but light. The reason, 
I believe, why the vessels generally depart from 
the Bay of Naples in the evening, is, because the 
wind in the evenings begins to blow from off the 
land, and, in fair weather, as it was when we 
sailed, continues so during the night. This morn- 
ing we passed the small Island of Capri, with 
light winds almost all day, nearly a calm. The 
next morning I rose at eight, and walked the 
deck a little while; the passengers and captain 
came down in the cabin, and played a game like 
whist, with cards, but smaller, and diflferently 
marked from the English playing cards. About 
nine, I got a dish of coifee, with ship bread, and 
some good butter ; and about half-past twelve, I 
sat down to dinner ; first, there was a large dish 
of ship bread, put in the middle of the table, split, 
and soaked, very sweet, and as fine as I ever 
tasted; then immediately each one was served 
with a soup-plate of rice soup ; but it was so 
thick of rice as to be very little of soup ; this was 
enough for any moderate man ; they all finished 
theirs, but I only about a fourth part ; then came 
boiled beef; and, as is the custom all over the 



rapelje's narrative. 209 

continent, it was cut in small slices or pieces, and 
the dish handed round from one to the other for 
each to help himself to as much as he liked ; then 
came a dish of liver, and gizzards, and hearts of 
fowls, &c., and also something like short sausages, 
highly seasoned, and quite tough ; then came 
cheese, and then two plates of fine cellery, and 
an excellent vegetable, in appearance just like 
cellery; the whole was almost new to me; the 
anniseed, blanched like cellery, is, I think a very 
healthy vegetable; we ate them with salt and 
bread; then two plates of their large chestnuts, 
and a large plate of apples, with the w^aiter, from 
the time our soup was finished, constantly reple- 
nishing our tumblers with wine to the brim. They 
seldom, or ever, taste wine till their soup is 
finished; but as soon after as they can swallow 
it ; they think it is glorious pour la sante. The 
weather was delightful, but nearly a calm all the 
day ; scarcely wind enough to fill the sails. 

Wednesday, December 19th. — The wind shift- 
ed in the night, and came ahead ; we had pro- 
ceeded forty miles from Naples on our voyage ; 
we put back again for the bay, where we dined 
at about twelve o'clock, at noon ; there was 
some rain. I saw an American brig at anchor, 
from Boston, William Gray, captain, loaded with 
lumber; she was performing quarantine. She 
had just arrived, but brouglit no news. I put up 
at Mr. Janis' tavern, at the mole, as it was oppo- 
27 



210 rapelje's narrative. 

site the harbor where the vessels lie, and I thought 
it would be convenient for going on board when- 
ever the wind came fair. 

Thursday, December 20th, and Friday the 
21st. — It rained often, and almost during the 
whole of these two days, which made the walk- 
ing very bad ; so I remained in the house almost 
the whole of both. 

Saturday, December 22d. — The weather be- 
came fair and pleasant, so I walked about the 
town, and looked into Glass's bookstore, on the 
Toledo, where I found a French newspaper. 

Sunday, December 23d. — I went on board 
and got my trunk ashore, as there were no signs 
of sailing ; and every body told me the Neapoli- 
tans would not go to sea on Christmas day if 
they could avoid it ; and that they would not 
depart till after that day. I walked in the public 
gardens, where I saw a great deal of company. 
The day was most charming, and, in the sun, as 
warm as summer. 

Monday, December 24th. — The wind still un- 
fair, but fine weather ; an American brig, the 
Catharine, Capt. Trask, of Gloucester, Massachu- 
setts, came into the harbor loaded with tobacco. 

Tuesday, December 25th ; Christmas day. — 
All through the night I heard the noise of squibs, 
and guns, and crackers, as this is a great festival 
in Catholic countries ; the service of High Mass 
was performed in the churches, after four o'clock 



rapelje's narrative. 211 

in the morning. This is a great day for the Ita- 
lians to eat and drink and gormandize to great 
excess. 

Wednesday, December 26th. — All day yester- 
day, and last night, there was rain, and a high 
wind. The wine at the Rose tavern, kept by 
IMr. Jani, called Ischia wine, from the island near 
Naples of that name, was, to my palate, the best 
I had drank in Europe ; it was a white wine, and 
very cheap, about two dollars and a half for 
twelve or thirteen gallons. The vino greco has 
very little of a sweetish taste, and reckoned very 
fine, when old. 

Thursday, December 27th, and Friday, 28tli. — 
There was a great deal of rain, and a contrary 
wind. I bought a Spanish, French, and English 
dictionary. 

Saturday, December 29th. — A heavy wind 
from the Mediterranean on shore called the sirocco, 
with, heavy rain all last night and most of this day, 
but it was not cold. About twelve the sun came 
out quite warm. The delight of this climate is, 
that all through the winter they generally have a 
fme sun some part of the day, if the other part of 
it is stormy. I kept in the house almost all 
day. 

Sunday, December 30th. — Thunder and some 
lightning last night, and rain with the same siroc- 
co wind as yesterday. I staid at home, the walk- 



212 

ing being very bad. I had been at Naples two 
months, and had not received a letter from New- 
York, since I left Paris, the 22d of August. 

Monday, December 31st. — I walked to the 
royal palace on Capo de Monte, and was delighted 
with its beautiful situation, and fine view of the 
bay and of Naples. 

Tuesday, January 1st, 1822. — This was a 
merry day ; no business done ; most of the churches 
open, for it is a great holyday. The weather 
changed and became very fine. 

Wednesday, January 2d. — I walked in the 
public garden of Caia. The captain, as the mate 
told me, could not depart, as he was going to a 
great feast. The weather and wind were fair all 
day ; yesterday and to-day very fine. A Mr. Rag- 
glans, a young Englishman in a Mr. Jeggo's store, 
gave me a letter of introduction to Mr. Abbot of 
Messina, and in return, I gave him my address at 
New-York. 

Thursday, January 3d. — It rained all day, and 
I did not go out, but engaged my passage in an- 
other vessel, the John Dugan, Capt. Leggett, (Eng- 
lish,) and had my passport altered, and again in- 
serted in his bill of health. A Mr. Crownin- 
shield, of Salem, Mass. a young man, paid me a 
visit. 

Friday, January 4th. — A fine day and a fair 
wind, but did not know till this morning, that the 



rapelje's narrative. 213 

vessel was not ready to depart ; the captain told 
me he was completing his ballast or cargo, which 
I did not before know. 

Saturday, January 5th. — I left Naples in the 
morning at ten o'clock, in the English brig John 
Dugan, of Yarmouth, Capt. Leggett, for Messina, 
once more. We had a head wind all day ; there 
were three other vessels who went out at the same 
time, but all put back. The Neapolitans will not 
hoist sufficient sail to go against the wind or beat 
to the windward, being fearful, and having bad 
seamen. In the night we passed between the 
Island of Capri and land, or coast of Calabria. 

Sunday, January 6th. — We had a heavy, dread- 
ful blow of head wind, and storms of rain all last 
night, and only made thirty miles of our course. 

Monday, January 7th. — We continued beating 
to windward, with a strong breeze. The Medi- 
terranean Sea has short, ugly waves or billows, 
and the water to me seemed as if vessels could 
not get over it, as in the Atlantic, and other seas. 

Tuesday, January 8th. — The wind came fair, 
and we had a fine run ; passed the volcanic moun- 
tain or Island of Strombole, and saw two funnels 
or craters, smoking as much as Vesuvius or more ; 
I also saw near it a cluster of other islands, about 
ten or twelve, called Lipari Islands ; they are 
about forty miles from Messina, and Messina is not 
far from a hundred and seventy from Naples. 
These islands are in the route. 



214 rapelje's narrative. 

Wednesday, January 9th. — We arrived at day- 
light at Messina ; indeed the captain got near the 
town before that time, but was obliged to wait for 
daylight to go in. Our vessel was a fine brig, 
and I was used very well by the captain, &c. We 
lived very well on board, having fine English 
cheese and porter and several sorts of wines, with 
good soups, meats, &c., well dressed. I paid fif- 
teen dollars for my passage and fare. The town 
of Messina has an imposing front ; a fine street 
along the bay, called the Marina, along which ves- 
sels lie as in a fine extensive dock and quay. 
After going with my passports to the police, I put 
up at the Italian inn called Le Lion d'Or, or the 
Golden Lion. In the evening I went to the the- 
atre, a very small one ; but as usual in Italy, the 
music good. 

Thursday, January 10th. — I wrote a letter to 
my wife, and left it at the American Consul's, to 
be sent to Boston by a vessel going to sail this 
day or to-morrow, and requested Mrs. Rapelje to 
direct to Messrs. Earl & Co., Liverpool. I dined, 
by invitation, with Mr. Brabant, the American 
Consul, an Englishman ; in company, was a Dr. 
Saunders, an Englishman, a Capt. Barroni, an 
Italian, and two other gentlemen who appeared 
to be his clerks, as I saw them in mornings at 
his office. 

Friday, January 1 1th. — I found myself unwell, 
and, as it rained, I kept house almost the whole day. 



RAPELJE S NARRATIVE. 



215 



Saturday, January 12th. — I was all day bu- 
sied about getting a vessel to go to Malta; at 
length I took passage in a schooner for Syracuse, 
which is about half way. I spent an hour or two 
very pleasantly with a Mr. and Mrs. Abbot, who 
kept a grocery store. I found him an intelligent 
Englishman ; his wife is an Italian, a handsome, 
pleasant, and agreeable woman, quite different 
from other Italian ladies who do nothing, but she 
attended to the domestic concerns of her house, 
and was both active and industrious. I had a 
letter to him from a young English gentleman I 
became acquainted with in Naples, a Mr. Rag- 
land. I procured a letter of credit from the house 
of Mendham, Colder, & Co. here, for seven hun- 
dred and thirty- eight ducats on the house of Bell, 
in Naples, and took of them fifty dollars, and 
gave them a receipt for the whole. 

Sunday, January 13th. — Messina has, from the 
surrounding country, immense quantities of very 
large lemons; but, for want of coarse wrapping 
paper, there were millions of them rotting in the 
stores ; they export them as well as oranges ; the 
latter are not very sweet, at least, not those I 
tasted. I slept on board the galleot Sainta Lucia, 
Capt. Nichola, expecting to set sail in the night 
for Syracuse ; but on account of the tide, as they 
said, we could not get out of the harbor. 

Monday, January 14th. — This evening at five 
o'clock we sailed with a fair wind for Syracuse ; 



216 rapelje's narrative. 

passed, just at the bay's mouth or entrance, the 
famous strait called Sylla and Charybdis, a nar- 
row passage ; then on the Calabria side, Reg- 
gio, and on the Messina side, Regina, and sailed 
along ; but as soon as we got out of the harbor, so 
far as to clear the hills that surround Messina, 
the tops are all like little hillocks, and seem as if 
once volcanic ; we saw the mountain jEtna, to ap- 
pearance very high ; a very wide base, and gradu- 
ally ascending to its peak or summit, which was 
slightly smoking ; and a great part of the moun- 
tain, near half way down from its top, was per- 
fectly white from its covering of snow. We pass- 
ed Catania and Teragosa, and got to Syracuse, an 
indifferent town, at eight in the morning ; it is well 
fortified by a high wall all round it from the 
water's edge. 

Tuesday, January 15th. — At Syracuse I found 
miserable accommodations, and engaged my pas- 
sage by land in a carriage between two horses, 
called a litiga^ a carriage or narrow coach in min- 
iature ; room enough for two persons to sit oppo- 
site to each other. The vehicle is attended by 
two men and three horses ; the extra horse car- 
ries the baggage, and one man walks on the side 
of the litiga, which is without wheels. I chose to 
journey by land, as there was a wind setting in 
from the sea ; I supposed it would continue for 
several days. 

Wednesday, January 16th. — I started at seven 



rapelje's narrative. 217 

o'clock in the morning for Cape Passaro, between 
two mules, in a small litiga, and went into Oula, 
where I got dinner, then to Noto, and there slept. 
The roads were very bad, but the country mostly 
level ; it is impossible to pass them in regular car- 
riages, they are so rocky and badly made. The 
country is very fine most of the way, abounding in 
good orchards of figs and olive trees, as well as 
almond ; the last were all in blossom. There are 
fine fields of wheat and grass ; the ground covered 
with verdure ; but the trees had lost their leaves, 
the fig and vines especially ; the olives continued 
green. The grape vines were trimmed nearly to 
the ground. I also saw another tree of very dark 
green, and bears a flat dark brown bean, sweet to 
taste, on which the horses are fed. Louis Fulzetta 
accompanied me as interpreter, I saw several 
churches at Noto ; and in the afternoon walked to 
examine a few of them ; all had the same kind of 
paintings, madonnas, and crucifixes, some neat, but 
not to be compared with numbers of others through 
other parts of Europe. 

Thursday, January 17th. — I set off at six in the 
morning by the same conveyance for Mastelamara, 
fourteen miles. My interpreter went last evening 
to the Prince Villadorato, as he called him, at 
Noto, and who, he said, acted as English as well 
as American Consul, and got a letter to his mana- 
ger or overseer at Mastelamara, a place on the sea 
shore which has a harbor for small boats, called 
28 



218 rapelje's narrative. 

spurainaria, that both row and sail. There is 
only one house, which the prince occupies in sum- 
mer, and the interior is miserable ; he ordered that 
I should be treated in the best manner the house 
afforded. This was indeed civil. The country 
towards the shore was very barren, and there was 
no road but a path for the mules to walk. The 
weather was very chilly and raw, as much so as 
could be without freezing. I was tormented all 
last night with fleas, and all this day; when I took 
off my boots several jumped out of my socks. 
The grape vines are not, to appearance, of a luxu- 
rious growth, but seem rusty and stunted. There 
was a hard wind blowing, so as to prevent my 
sailing for Malta this day, although I got here at 
ten o'clock, and had to rest under a prince's un- 
comfortable roof. I had to ride to a small town 
called Villadoreta, about two miles and a half, to 
get my name inserted in the bill of health, but the 
police officer for that purpose was not at home ; so 
it was with the bill of the vessel's health sent to 
Noto, thirteen miles. There is a great deal of 
trouble, delay, and expense, attending the pass- 
ports. I rode the two miles and a half on a mule. 
The roads were very bad, and I was obliged to 
go on a walk or amble all the way ; but these ani- 
mals are generally very safe over this land of rock 
and lava, as it all appears to be. The surface, in 
many places, seems for miles to be nothing but 
rough rock, with projecting points, which appear- 



rapelje's narrative. 219 

ed so rough that I wondered how the animals got 
over them ; but when passing those bad places, 
they put their heads close to the ground and go 
slow J and pick out the road without guiding. I 
found best to let them go on as they pleased. They 
are so small, that my feet almost touched the 
ground. I almost supposed, as in the fable, I 
ought rather have carried the mule than he me ; 
but they are very strong, and, it seems, intended 
for these lazy people, who Avill not make roads. 

Friday, January 18th. — I had to stay this day 
at Marza. It appears this Prince Villadoreta 
hires or rents this house on the sea shore, and car- 
ries on fishing in the summer. There are immense 
store-houses for the nets and fish which are caught 
in summer, which is carried on to the amount of 
thousands of dollars. He pays a thousand dollars 
a year for this situation, in summer, for his family 
and fishery; and, although millions of fish are 
caught, the expense is more than the profit. I 
could scarcely get any thing to eat ; a common, 
half-starved fowl, which, by the by, these Ita- 
lians, or Sicilians, cook very well, making soup 
of the body, with vegetables, and broccoli, or young 
cauliflowers ; and of the liver, wings, necks, giz- 
zard, &c., they make a small stew, smothered, as I 
would call it, with two or three dozen of grapes 
and raisins ; they have a plenty of gravy ; I made 
a licarty meal, and drank a bottle of very fine 
Nota wine. They have good brown bread, which 



220 rapelje's narrative. 

is a great treat ; but I had to pay dearly for the 
half-stewed chickens. 

Saturday, January 19th. — I got up at three in 
the morning, and went on board the sea-boat call- 
ed a spurrenaria or sjmionao, a small boat, with- 
out a deck, only a small covered place in the 
stern for a few persons, where I could only sit, or 
lie down, but not stand; she was about forty feet 
long, not very wide, and was loaded low down 
into the water; she had one mast in her bow, 
about ten or twelve feet long, to which a large 
mainsail is fastened. We had a fine run to Malta 
from Martsameme, in Sicily, of about nine hours. 
The distance is about seventy miles. This is an 
island of much barren rock; the town Vatella, 
the capital city, is strongly fortified, and the water 
of the ocean runs almost round the town. It 
is walled with strong parapets, bastions, castles, 
and towers, which are seen rising quite from the 
water's edge. I could walk all around the city 
on the fortifications, on which there is a fine view 
of the ocean, and also of the surrounding country. 
There were a few two horse carriages; they are 
on two wheels, like a chariot. 

Sunday, January 20th. — I went to St. John's 
Catholic church, which is very large; it has 
heavy carvings of wood, with gilding on the 
walls, now nearly defaced by age, with some fine 
paintings and statues in bronze, and marble. 
There is a small church, or chapel, of the Church 



rapelje's narrative. 221 

of England in the place, where I just looked in ; 
there were not many attendants. The weather 
was very raw and cold ; and the wind blew very 
hard from the north-east. I waited on Mr. Pullis, 
the American consul, who was quite civil, and 
went with his son to the vice-consul, Mr. Enoud, 
who was kind also. The streets were filled with 
well-dressed people. The Maltese ladies have a 
vivacity and an agreeable, pleasing, smiling coun- 
tenance, and are also quite handsome, and gene- 
rally, fine sparkling, black eyes, with black hair. 
They are, indeed, as handsome and pleasing wo- 
men as I have seen on the continent, except the 
French ladies. 

Monday, January 21st. — At the great Catho- 
lic church of St. John's, the floor, or pavement, 
is made of large flags, or tombstones, composed, or 
ingeniously joined together, of the finest marble 
of different colors, to represent the armorial bear- 
ings of the deceased who are interred beneath 
them. The natives speak nothing but a com- 
mon jxi^ois, called vulgar Maltese, or Arabic. 
The city of Valetta and Vetoria are opposite, 
separated by a narrow channel, and remarkable 
for the celebrity and strength of their fortifica- 
tions, as is, indeed, the whole island; the rocks 
are cut into parapets. Notwithstanding all these 
fortifications, it was taken by the French, in spite 
of the most vigorous resistance, and afterwards by 
the English, who, after a long siege, under Gene- 



222 rapelje's narrative. 

ral Pigot, took it, and are now masters of it, and 
have several regiments of uncommonly fine look- 
ing soldiers on it. It is very healthy ; but it had 
been very cold for several days, although they say 
they have never seen ice made there by the wea- 
ther. 

Tuesday, January 22d. — I walked to the pa- 
rade ground, and then to the outworks, which are 
very strong ; the steps, and other parts of the for- 
tifications are cut out of solid rock ; it seemed as 
if there were no end to the high solid wall ; and it 
would be intricate for an enemy to find their way 
through from one ditch or passage to another. — 
The weather has become quite warm, and the re- 
flection from the white free-stone rock, of which the 
island is composed, makes it quite hot even at this 
season of the year, while walking in places not 
shaded by houses. The streets in the town of Va- 
letta are very steep, up and down ; so much so, as 
to have steps to ascend and descend, on the side 
walks ; but they are remarkably well paved and 
flagged. I dined with the American vice-consul, 
who is a Maltese, but his wife is English, and he is 
brother-in-law to Mr. Pullis, the consul. His wife 
is a very pleasant agreeable lady, having much 
amusing conversation. 

Wednesday, January 23d. — I went to Melita, a 
town four or five miles distant, and passed through 
several villages in a carriage called a calice, which 
is a small chariot, on or between two wheels, and 



rapelje's narrative. 223 

a horse at the end of two shafts, which is very 
easy. I was accompanied by a Scotch gentleman, 
a Mr. McKenzie. This is the usual mode of travel- 
ling ; the man or driver runs along side of the horse 
and carriage in the city and villages, but sits on 
the shaft in the country. Melita, also called 
Civita Vecchia is an ancient city, and there is 
a commanding view of Valetta, and of the sea 
and bay. In clear weather, the Barbary coast, 
and also Mount jEtna can be seen. The cathe- 
dral is a j5ne church. I saw a church or small 
chapel, cut out of the rock under ground, called St. 
Paul's. In this cave, the people say and believe, 
he lived three months ; I went into it. I also visit- 
ed the catacombs, which are cut out of a rock 
under ground. These catacombs are of immense 
extent ; they were safe residences for the Saracens, 
when attacked by the Turks. Many of the ava- 
nues are shut up. The guide stated that a school- 
master and his scholars went in one of them, and 
were never more heard of; after which the ave- 
nues were stopped. If the guide and other gentle- 
men had not carried each of them a candle, I doubt 
if the way could have been found. Every person 
carries a lighted candle in his hand ; the avenues 
are numerous, and branch out in every direction. 
I also saw the city called Bosquetta, near Melita, 
and a beautiful orange grove, where the trees were 
overburdened with ripe oranges ; and, as we were 
passing through them, they hung in such numbers on 



224 

the trees on each side the road, that I was impatient 
to get out and throw some off the trees to eat, and 
was astonished that they should permit such num- 
bers to hang dead ripe over the road ; but when I 
came to taste them, I found they were as sour as 
could be, as those called Seville oranges, and which 
indeed induced me to be civil enough to them af- 
terwards; not wishing to try any more of Bos- 
quetta oranges. There was a beautiful spring un- 
der an artificial grotto, where the citizens come 
to regale in summer. On the road, for a great 
length, is to be seen an aqueduct, which brings 
water seven miles to Melita, and runs sometimes 
above, and sometimes under ground. I dined at 
six with Mr. James Bell, merchant, to whom I had 
a letter of credit from Mendham, Calder, & Co., of 
Messina. He was very polite to me. He had a 
very large, elegant house, with large rooms ; one 
of ninety-three feet by thirty-three, a ball-room, 
with wooden or plank floor, which, being so scarce 
here, is thought and spoken of as a wonder. In 
my visit to the country, nothing but stone and iron 
was to be seen in all the buildings, fences, &c. The 
stone is however, when first taken out of the quarry, 
of which, I believe, most of the island is composed, 
but little harder than English chalk, but grows 
somewhat harder on being exposed to the weather. 
The fortifications are very strong, including the out- 
works across the small neck of land, which is not 
very wide from water to water. There are six 



rapelje's narrative. 225 

immense thick walls, very high, and wide, deep 
ditches between them. It is, I suppose, by art the 
strongest fortified town in Europe, or perhaps in 
the world. It could only be taken by starvation, 
which has been the case whenever it has been 
taken. 

Thursday, January 24th. — As I lost my pas- 
sage in the packet for Gibraltar, and possibly all 
for the better, having not time to get my passport 
or bill of health, I turned my attention to visiting 
Greece, and the great city of Constantinople, as, 
in all probability, I shall never again be so near it, 
being within a thousand miles ; and I accordingly 
looked out for a vessel for that port, but could not 
find any. In the evening, I went to the opera 
house, which was a neat small theatre, with five 
rows of boxes ; the performance of singing and 
music was very good, the same as in Italy. I had 
also been at a masquerade a few evenings before 
in the same theettre. The pit was floored over 
even with the stage, and both made into one, where 
the masked danced. The lowest order of people 
danced generally in this place ; the women prin- 
cipally are masked. It was now nearly the be- 
ginning of the great masquerade festival. The 
weather continued to be delightful. 

Friday, January 25th. — I walked to the garden 

near the outworks, which is very narrow and long. 

In the evening I was at Mr. James Bell's, where 

there was an elegant ball. Four large rooms were 

29 



226 rapelje's narrative. 

opened ; the large ball-room was well lighted, the 
music was fine. The two rooms were elegant ; 
one was thirty-three feet square, covered with a 
superb Turkey carpet, and well furnished with 
tables, covered with prints, and newspapers of 
late dates ; also two cases of well chosen books, 
where many of the company sat, and found much 
amusement. In the other room were refreshments 
on a long table, the whole length of the room, with 
servants on one side, and laid out with oranges, 
cakes, wine and punch. There were about two 
hundred persons present ; the greatest proportion 
were gentlemen ; many military and naval officers, 
both in and out of uniforms. The ladies were gen- 
teelly dressed. The Maltese I could not distin- 
guish from the English, either by complexion^ 
shape, or dress. Pearls seem to be the most fa- 
vorite beads. They wore pink and white satin 
dresses. The ladies would not vie with the same 
number in America, either in dress or beauty, or 
ease in dancing. This house, which, outwardly as 
well as inwardly, has the appearance of a palace, 
was formerly built by, and belonged to, the cele- 
brated order of the Knights of Malta, of whom 
none now exist ; the order being altogether done 
away. 

Saturday, January 26th. — By appointment, I 
went at eleven o'clock to make some inquiry of the 
Turkish Consul for Constantinople, as I wished to 
visit that great city ; he begged me to stay to 



rapelje's narrative. 227 

breakfast. I saw there a Mr. Alexander, an Ital- 
ian, who spoke good English, and was very polite. 
I was informed it was dangerous visiting that city 
on account of the war between the Turks and 
the Greeks ; however, I made up my mind that if 
I could find a vessel, I should go notwithstanding. 

Sunday, January 27th. — There was a great 
storm of high wind and rain all the preceding night, 
and I did not go out. 

Monday, January 28th. — A vessel came in yes- 
terday, and I engaged my passage to Constantino- 
ple, being the English brig Dart, Capt. Vaux, twen- 
ty-two days from England; and was told she would 
sail in a few days. 

Tuesday, January 29th. — I called on a Mr. Mad- 
dox, an English gentleman traveller, for informa- 
tion ; he was late from Messina and Constantino- 
ple, and said he had attended to the reports in cir- 
culation ; but he informed me there was no dan- 
ger, as he had found none among the Turks. 

Wednesday, January 30th. — I wrote a letter to 
my wife, as Capt. Wallis was going in a day or two 
to Gibraltar and England, who took it, for the pur- 
pose of sending it by the first conveyance to New- 
York. I then went to the police to have my pass- 
ports prepared, as the captain said he should sail 
on Sunday. It was expected the vessel would first 
go to Smyrna, but it was afterwards arranged that 
she should sail for Constantinople first ; but no 
matter, perhaps all for the best, as I had engaged 
to go in her. 



228 rapelje's narrative. 

Thursday, January 31st. — At six o'clock, I di- 
ned with Capt. Vaux at Mr. Bell's, who was con- 
signee of the vessel and cargo. This was the cap- 
tain with whom I was to go to Constantinople. 
At Malta was the English man-of-war, the Roch- 
ford, of seventy-four guns, commanded by Admiral 
Sir Graham Moore. 

Friday, February 1st. — I wrote another letter 
to Mrs. Rapelje; it was a rainy day. I left with 
Mr. Bell, a pattern for a silk dress, and four neck- 
laces of the lava of Vesuvius; he promised to send 
them to Mrs. Rapelje for me. 

Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, the 2d, 3d, and 
4tli. — I went to the Church of England, a chapel 
fitted up very neatly in the Governor's palace, and 
heard a Mr. Miller, who was the clergyman. A 
fine band of wind instruments accompanied the 
singers, and I thought them better than an 
organ. 

Tuesday, February 5th. — In the evening I went 
to a masquerade, where there were great numbers. 
It was a very large room, and there were numbers 
of quadrilles and waltzes ; but all the company 
were of the lowest order; men, girls and boys, all 
vulgar ; only sixpence for a ticket ; a good band 
of music for them to dance by; the women, in ge- 
neral, were only masked. 

Wednesday, February 6th. — I took leave of 
some of my acquaintances in Malta, and on Thurs- 
day left the town of Valetta, and went on board 
the brig Dart, Capt. Vaux. 



rapelje's narrative. 229 

Friday and Saturday, the 8th and 9th. — Noth- 
ing- material occurred; the wind was such, that 
we lay our course most of the time ; kept nearly 
on the same latitude as the Island of Malta, 36 de- 
grees 1 minute north, its longitude, 14 degrees 13 
minutes — which of course altered every day. On 
Saturday there was a large water-spout near the 
vessel, but I was not up to see it. 

Sunday, February 10th. — Yesterday and last 
night it rained for the most part of the time, the 
winds being variable, but not very fair. Our 
course from Malta was about east by south ; so 
we ran in three days about three hundred miles. 
At daylight we saw land, being Cape Mattapan, 
the southern point of the Morea in Greece, and 
about fifteen miles distant. The Island of Cerigo 
was also in view, a short distance to the south-east- 
ward of Mattapan, being the ancient Island of Cy- 
thera, one of the seven Ionian Islands, now all be- 
longing to Great Britain. At eight o'clock, a. m. 
we spoke a large Imperial ship, as they called it, 
one of the Emperor of Austria's vessels, or those 
under that flag, bound from Constantinople to Ge- 
noa. They said there were many pirates in those 
seas. Our vessel sailed very fast, and had passed, 
since we had been out, many standing the same 
way, and run them out of sight. The brig Dart 
was formerly an American vessel, built at Balti- 
more, and taken by the English during the late 
war. As we coasted alon^j the Grecian coast or 



230 rapelje's narrative. 

south point of the Morea, the country seemed very- 
broken and hilly, and we saw many very high 
mountains, coveredhalf way down with snow, and 
on the side of them, as was supposed, was Corinth, 
where St. Paul preached to the Corinthians ; not 
far off is also Athens. We saw several ves- 
sels, the wind very light, almost a calm ; and on 
this day, we made very little progress on our voy- 
age. 

Monday, February 11th. — Adverse winds all 
last night, and made but little progress, and also 
this day the wind was against us. We tacked to 
windward during the day. This day, the land 
was about fifteen miles oif, the point Mattepan still 
before us ; and we had gained very little on our 
course, owing to head winds. 

Tuesday, February 12th. — All last night a tem- 
pestuous wind arose about east-north-east, which 
caused the ship to be tacked about, and the sails to 
be reefed. It was, however, not rainy, but dry wea- 
ther ; the same contrary w4nds continued the whole 
of the day ; and we have made little or no progress 
on our voyage for these four days. The land along 
the coast is mountainous, very irregular, and appa- 
rently of volcanic origin. 

Wednesday, February 13th. — All last night a 
high and contrary wind ; coasted along the point 
Mattapan, the south part of the Morea in Greece ; 
also passed the Island Cerigo, the ancient Cythe- 
rea ; we went outside, as we could not go through 



RAPELJE S NARRATIVE. 



231 



the pass of Angelo, Near the Island of Cytherea 
lies the Egg Rock, which, as well as the island, is 
high out of the water. We passed around to-day 
out from the Mediterranean, and just entered the 
Archipelago or ancient JEgean Sea, called by the 
English navigators the Arches, filled with islands ; 
we passed in sight of the Island of Candia, or an- 
cient Crete ; also before passed Cerigotto, and con- 
stantly were in sight of some island. The wind 
was very fresh all day, and contrary ; we had met a 
disagreeable short rough sea, and the vessel made 
but little progress towards our port ; she pitched 
and plunged very much, with a very uncomforta- 
ble motion of rolling. 

Thursday, February 14th. — We beat to wind- 
ward all this day, with a contrary north-east wind, 
off Point Angelo of the Morea, and gained very 
little ; the wind was low during last night and 
the whole day ; during the night cloudy, the day 
tolerably fair, but cold. 

Friday, February 15th. — We still had a head 
wind all last night and to-day ; left sight of Can- 
dia or Crete ; got in sight of the Island of Milo and 
Anti-Milo. The land was high ; we endeavored to 
work towards them ; wind moderate, but still con- 
trary. 

Saturday, February 16th. — All last night there 
were strong north-north-west gales and a heavy sea 
from the north-east. The ship was laboring much. 
We passed at some distance in sight of the Island 



232 rapelje's narrative. 

of Falconera, which is the island mentioned in 
Falconer's poem of the shipwreck. 

Of Falconera, distant only now 
Nine lessening leagues beneath the leeward bow : 
For, if on those destructive shallows tost, 
The helpless bark with all her crew are lost ; 
As fatal still appears, that danger o'er. 
The steep Saint George, and rocky Gardelor. 
With him the pilots, of their hopeless state 
In mournful consultation long debate — 
Not more perplexing doubts her chiefs appal 
When some proud city verges to her fall, 
While ruin glares around, and pale affright 
Convenes her councils in the dead of night. 
No blazon'd trophies o'er their concave spread, 
Nor storied pillars rais'd aloft their head : 
But here the queen of shade around them threw 
Her dragon wing, disastrous to the view ! 
Dire was the scene with whirlwind, hail and show'r ; 
Black melancholy rul'd the fearful hour : 
Beneath, tremendous roll'd the flashing tide, 
Where fate on every billow seem'd to ride — 
Inclos'd with ills, by peril unsubdued, 
Great in distress the master-seaman stood : 
Skill'd to command ; deliberate to advise ; 
Expert in action ; and in council wise- 
Thus to his partners, by the crew unheard, 
The dictates of his soul, the chief referred : — 

' Ye faithful mates ! who all my troubles share, 
Approv'd companions of your master's care! 
To you, alas ! 'twere fruitless now to tell 
Our sad distress, already known too well : 
This morn with favoring gales the port we left. 
Though now of every flattering hope bereft : 
No skill nor long experience could forecast 
Th' unseen course of this destructive blast ; 
These seas, where storms at various seasons blow. 
No reigning winds nor certain omens know. 
The hour, th' occasion, all your skill demands, 
A leaky ship, embay'd by dangerous lands, 
Our bark no transient jeopardy surrounds. 
Groaning she lies beneath unnumber'd wounds: 
'Tis ours the doubtful remedy to find, 



rapelje's narrative. 233 

To shun the fury of the seas and wind ; 
For in this hollow swell, with labor sore, 
Her flank can bear the bursting floods no more. 
One only shift, though desperate, we must try, 
And that before the boisterous storm to fly : 
Then less her sides will feel the surge's power, 
Which thus may soon the foundering hull devour. 
'Tis true, the vessel and her costly freight 
To me consigned, my orders only wait ; 
Yet, since the charge of every life is mine, 
To equal votes our counsels I resign — 
Forbid it, Heaven ! that in this dreadful hour 
I claim the dangerous reins of purblind power! 
But should we now resolve to bear away, 
Our hopeless state can suflTer no delay : 
Nor can we, thus bereft of every sail, 
Attempt to steer obliquely on the gale; 
For then, if broaching sideway to the sea, 
Our dropsied ship may founder by the lee; 
Vain all endeavors then to bear away. 
Nor helm, nor pilot, would she more obey.' 

He said : the listening mates with fixed regard, 
And silent reverence, his opinion heard ; 
Important was the question in debate. 
And o'er their councils hung impending fate. 
Rodmond, in many a scene of peril tried, 
Had oft the master's happier skill descried ; 
Yet now, the hour, the scene, the occasion known, 
Perhaps with equal right preferred his own : 
Of long experience in the naval art. 
Blunt was his speech, and naked was his heart; 
Alike to him each climate, and each blast, 
The first in danger, in retreat the last : 
Sagacious, balancing the opposed events, 
From Albert his opinion thus dissents— 

'Too true the perils of the present hour, 
Where toils succeeding toils our strength o'erpower ! 
Our bark 'tis true no shelter here can find. 
Sore shattered by the rufiian seas and wind : 
Yet where with safety can we dare to scud 
Before this tempest, and pursuing flood;? 
At random driven, to present death we haste. 
And one short hour perhaps may be our last : 
Though Corinth's gulf extend along the lee, 
To whose safe ports appears a passage free, 
Yet think ! this furious unremitting gale 
Deprives the ship of every ruling sail ; 

30 



234 rapelje's narrative. 

And if before it she directly flies, 

New ills inclose us and new dangers rise : 

Here Falconera spreads her lurking snares, 

There distant Greece her rugged shelves prepares : 

Our hull, if once it strikes that iron coast, 

Asunder bursts, in instant ruin lost : 

Nor she alone, but with her all the crew. 

Beyond relief, are doomed to perish too : 

Such mischiefs follow if we bear away, 

O safer that sad refuge — to delay ! 

'Then of our purpose this appears the scope, 
To weigh the danger with the doubtful hope : 
Though sorely buffetted by every sea, 
Our hull unbroken long may try a-lee : 
The crew, though harrassed much with toils severe^ 
Still at their pumps, perceive no hazards near : 
Shall we incautious then the danger tell, 
At once their courage and their hope to quell ?— 
Prudence forbids ! this southern tempest soon 
May change its quarter with the changing moon } 
Its rage, though terrible, may soon subside, 
Nor into mountains lash the unruly tide : 
These leaks shall then decrease— the sails once more 
Direct our course to some relieving shore.' 

The poem is equal to any in the English lan- 
guage for every term and story in the best sea lan- 
gviage, and perfectly correct. The wand v^as all last 
night and to-day right against us ; we came near 
the south-west part of the Island of Milo, about 
six miles, in the morning, and beating towards it ; 
high broken ground. We beat against the wind 
all day, and, in the evening, came around to an- 
chor in the harbor, and went to bed, with the ex- 
pectation of a good night's sleep. I had had but 
little rest for the last seven nights, the wind hav- 
ing been contrary, and the vessel beating about 
and rolling exceedhigly. 

Sunday, February 17th. — We got into the har- 



rapelje's narrative. 235 

bor of Milo last evening at eight, the wind being 
contrary, and blowing a gale ; the captain thought 
it advisable to lay there till a fair wind should 
arise. I went on shore, and took a walk along 
the beach, but saw nothing material. This island, 
as well as the others in the Archipelago, is inhabit- 
ed by Greeks, who are dressed somewhat in the 
ancient curious costume ; and, to appearance, are 
little better than savages. I saw several Greek 
boats ; some from the Island of Samos ; the men, 
about six in number, began dancing, taking each 
other's hands, and went regular to a tune they 
sang, all round the hatch of the boat. This was a 
festival amusement with them ; this was the last 
day of eating meat. After this day they were re- 
stricted to an abstinence of fourteen days. They 
were a filthy, miserable set. All wear caps and 
whiskers, and most of them long beards. 

Monday, February 18th. — Last evening I went 
on board the brig Missionary, of Sunderland, Cap- 
tain Robertson. We had some fine partridges for 
dinner. This island abounds with them ; their 
plumage is fine and beautiful, difl'erent from ours 
in America. The wind still blowing a gale, keep- 
ing us in this harbor. The harbor is surrounded 
by hills, and is very spacious and excellent. 

Tuesday, February 19th. — I went up in the 
morning, on a donkey, to the town, which was on 
a high hill, and took dinner with Mr. Mitchell, the 



236 rapelje's narrative. 

mariner who conducted the late Queen of England, 
as pilot about these seas. She was at his house, 
and dined also with him but a few years before. 
These Greek women have handsome faces; fine 
fair eyes and teeth, but a curious costume. I saw 
the ruins of the old town, and an amphitheatre, 
which they told me was destroyed in the Pelopo- 
nessian war. The new town is a curiosity ; it is 
situated on the very top of the high hill, to pre- 
serve themselves from the incursions of their neigh- 
bors, as formerly they were in continental civil 
wars. They speak depraved Arabic, and are neat 
in their houses ; I visited several relations that 
were intermarried in each other's families, at a 
Mr. Antonio, Mr. George's, &c. &c. The women 
are very modest and virtuous. The whole island 
appears a volcanic mountain, almost all rock, 
with caverns, and valleys, and catacombs, from 
which they dig antique vestiges, different kinds of 
vases, of potter's earth, from the ruins of the old 
town. 

Wednesday, February 20th. — The wind was 
still contrary. In the afternoon at six, I saw an 
American, Baltimore brig, the Midas, just from 
Smyrna, bound to Baltimore. She came to anchor 
in the harbor. I went on board, and saw a Mr, 
Hamilton, a passenger. I put on board a letter for 
Mrs. Rapelje, New- York. The vessel appeared a 
fine, sharp, fast sailing vessel. She came in to put 



rapelje's narrative. 237 

up her rigging, and they said, she was loaded with 
opium. There were showers and high gales 
during last night and the day. 

Thursday, February 21st. — I w^ent along the 
shore with the captain in his boat, to see the boil- 
ing hot spring issuing from the sand beach. It was 
boiling up through the sand and salt water. The 
wind still continued contrary. 

Friday, February 22d. — It was still a bad 
wind, and we were obliged to lay quiet with pa- 
tience, in the harbor. I visited a Danish brig with 
the captain, who said he was from Copenhagen, 
and had a French cargo and supercargo on board. 
He was bound for a market in one of the small 
Greek islands, and had been obliged to let the 
Greeks have provisions to the amount of a hun- 
dred dollars, which they would not pay him ; but 
I heard, that in a former voyage he had supplied 
the Turks, their enemies, with articles in their cas- 
tles. The houses in Milo are all stone, and as in 
Malta, have flat roofs, covered with coarse cement 
or mortar. I bought a cotton night-cap for a dol- 
lar, knit here by the Greeks, such as are generally 
worn. 

Saturday, February 23d. — We got under weigh 
about two o'clock, p. m., with a light wind south- 
west, fair for our course if we could set out, but 
right ahead to get out of the harbor. However, 
we succeeded, and in the evening the wind went 
down, almost to a calm, but shifting about in every 



238 rapelje's narrative. 

point. We passed Anti-Milo Island, about eight 
miles from Milo. It is uninhabited, and filled, they 
say, with wild goats ; other islands, of no great 
note, near Milo, but we did not pass near them. 

Sunday, February 24th. — We sailed about a 
north by east course, with light, variable winds, 
south and south-east, with some rain. We passed 
the Island of Serpho, eighteen miles from Milo, 
also at a distance to the east. We passed Safanto 
before we came to Serppo, then a short distance 
from us. This day we passed Thermia, and be- 
tween it and Ice Island. I spent most part of the 
day in bed. 

Monday, February 25th. — Somewhere off Sea 
Island, during the night, the wind blew very hard, 
with some rain. About two or three o'clock in the 
morning the wind began to blow a hurricane, and 
I heard them take in sail. The wind continued to 
blow extremely hard ; and in the morning, just 
after eight, the mate, in a state of despair and des- 
pondency came into the cabin, and said that he 
could not do any thing more ; that the ship was 
in great danger of losing her masts ; that the cap- 
tain was in an incapable state, and could not con- 
duct the ship ; and begged me to step out and look. 
I jumped out of my berth, ran up and saw the sea 
running tremendously, and all tlie men said there 
was danger, and that the mate had better take 
the command, for the preservation of our lives, and 
the property on board, which I also thought best 



rapelje's narrative. 239 

to be done, I found every thing as stated by the 
mate was true, and that it was best to confine the 
captain to his cabin, where the men put him, but 
he would not stay. They did not like to lock the 
door upon him, on account of my being there ; the 
pilot also thought it best as well as the men, to put 
back before the wind to Milo. This was between 
the islands of Andro and Sino ; the Island of 
Andro under the larboard bow, and to windward 
there was no other harbor safe, nearer than Milo, 
for us to enter. The wind continued to blow con- 
trary and tremendous, with a heavy sea. We 
scudded under close-reefed fore-topsails, and got 
in and anchored again in Milo harbor about four 
o'clock, p. M. 

Tuesday, February 26th. — In Milo harbor the 
wind blew very hard all day, and was still con- 
trary. I saw many other vessels, near twelve, 
more than when we first were there. A French 
brig of war, and other brigs, some Imperial, were 
there also. 

Wednesday, February 27th. — The wind con- 
tinued to blow contrary in very heavy gales from 
the north and east. 

Thursday, February 28th. — The weather last 
night became more moderate ; the wind was quite 
lulled, but in the morning it blew contrary, and 
continued so through the day. 

Friday, March 1st. — The wind sprung up last 



240 rapelje's narrative. 

night again in the same contrary direction, and 
blew a gale from the northward and north by east, 
and also during the day. It was now a day over 
three weeks since we left Malta, and to-morrow 
will be two weeks since we came into the harbor 
of Milo. I was really quite tired out. It was 
enough to try my patience ; and, as there was no 
house of accommodation on shore, I was obliged 
to remain on board the vessel. 

Saturday, March 2d. — All last night there 
were dreadful squalls of hail, rain, and hurricanes, 
which continued during the day ; towards night 
the rain ceased, but the wand continued to blow 
hard. 

Sunday, March 3d. — The wind still blew very 
hard all last night, and continued high this morn- 
ing, still against us. The weather was clear, with 
sunshine; but high contrary winds continued all 
the day. This was a mountain wind, called Tra- 
montana, or in English, north wind. It had been 
tremendous, blowing almost a hurricane with little 
intermission, now, for nearly a month. I saw in 
this harbor some Greek boats with only one mast, 
a long spritsail, like a mainsail, to a yard as a 
topsail and jib. These boats are in the old Gre- 
cian style, called careks or sackalever boats, and 
are sharp at both ends. 

Monday, March 4th. — Contrary winds still 
blowing hard all night. Another polacre ship 



rapelje's narrative. 241 

came in during the morning ; and there are now 
twenty-three vessels wind-bound. The weather 
clear, with flying clouds and high winds all day. 

Tuesday, March 5th. — Very high winds all 
night, and still continued all day, with numerous 
flying clouds, obscuring the sky. My patience 
was now tried to its utmost, having been in this 
harbor two weeks and three days, and had no in- 
ducement to go on shore. There were none but a 
few miserable Greek huts along the beach, and 
the town nearly four miles off, which was also a 
miserable place, up and down hill ; the wind 
causes the water to be so rough as to make it un- 
pleasant going on shore in the boat. 

Wednesday, March 6th. — The same contrary 
winds still continued, and blew strong all last night 
and all day, as yesterday. 

Thursday, March 7th. — This day the wind 
ceased, I went on shore, and we got bread and 
milk, and eggs. Being full moon, a fair wind of 
light breezes from the west came on before night. 
This island of Milo is poor in all tilings ; beef and 
mutton scarcely eatable, so poor, and so little 
of it. 

Friday, March 8th. — We got up anchor and set 
sail with a fair wind at four o'clock in the morn- 
ing, after having been wind-bound in the harbor 
of Milo eighteen days. We had been four weeks 
and one day from Malta. It was a pleasant day. 
We passed and left on the right the Island of Ar- 
31 



242 rapelje's narrative. 

gentera, also Sefanto and Serpho. We left Anti- 
Milo and Falconera on the left ; they were two 
quite small islands. Opposite to us on the west 
was the main land of Greece on the Morea in the 
Gulf of Napoli. We sailed along with a delightful 
wind from the southward and eastward. All the 
day the weather was clear, fine and pleasant. 
We passed the Island of Thermia and Zea, and 
came between it and Cape Colonna, where Falco- 
ner, in his poem of the '^ Shipwreck" was cast away, 
and the spot which and where his description was 
located. The islands appear to be barren, with 
high pointed hills and mountains, and rocky capes. 
Colonna is some distance up the Gulf of Athens, on 
the point of Greece, making on the south side the 
Gulf of Egina, and on the north side the entrance 
to the channel of the Negropont, both which gulfs 
or bays we passed, and also the Island of Me- 
cronise, near the Cape Colonna. We passed be- 
tween it and the Island of Zea. Now the Negro- 
pont is before us, a very large long island to ap- 
pearance. The tops of the mountains were cover- 
ed with snow. We passed between it and Ande- 
ro, during the night ; the strait or passage is called 
Selota. 

Saturday, March 9th. — We yesterday passed 
to the south of Triconi, the islands of Paros, Anti- 
paros, and Nescia, near to Delos, called part of the 
ancient Cyclades ; Paros being famed for its white 
marble, and dedicated to Bacchus, on account of 



. 



rapelje's narrative. 243 

the rich wine made there. They have still good 
wine, fruit and game. There are two good har- 
bors on the north-east side of the island. Last night 
we passed the Passage or Strait of Scioto and Cape 
Doro on the Negropont, which was ancient Leva- 
dea ; the sea dividing it from the main land is call- 
ed Euripus. We sailed on this morning, with a 
fair south wind, between the Island of Ipsara and 
Scio, a north-east course, and saw the Island of Scio, 
where mastic is produced to the east of Ipsara. 
We sailed by Mitilene, a large island, on which 
oils, figs, and wines are produced. The soil is 
very fertile. It has some towns and good harbors 
when in, but bad to get in and out again. 

Saturday, March 9th. — Before we came to Miti- 
lene, (passing the Gulf of Smyrna, and Gulf of San- 
deric,) we came along to Cape Baba. Between it 
and Mitilene is the Gulf of Adramiti. This is 
now the main land of Asia, called the country of 
Anedoli. We sailed along the coast, and within 
three miles of where the ancient city of Troy once 
stood, and saw the ruins, as our Greek pilot point- 
ed out, being several walls not far from the 
shore. Directly opposite is the Island of Tenedos, 
a fine level island, where the Greek fleet anchored, 
when they besieged Troy. They must have gone 
over in boats to land their men, as there appears 
no harbor near the ancient city of Troy in Phry- 
gia. The city was first destroyed by Hercules, 
and afterwards by the Grecians after a ten years' 



244 rapelje's narrative, 

siege. The land near the shore, and around where 
the city stood, appears in a gentle declivity, rather 
smooth ; and in the hack ground there are hills, 
and many of them pointed, and of different heights. 
The land w^here the city was, is now totally neg- 
lected, as also all around it, and covered with fo- 
rest trees ; from being the richest city in the world, 
it now, almost like the baseless fabric of a vision^ is 
dissolved, and scarce a vestige remains. No won- 
der that " Illium fuit" is a proverb among nations. 
We passed on between a small island called 
Rabbit Island, and the Asiatic shore, and as 
night came on in the Straits of Dardanelles. We 
now entered the Hellespont, about ten miles wide, 
separating Europe from Asia, Cape Greco on the 
European side, and Cape Janizary on the Asiatic 
side. Just after entering the Dardanelles, a can- 
non was fired at us from the Turkish Castle 
on the Asiatic side, I suppose to bring us to, but 
we proceeded on, and after sailing some miles 
farther, two more cannon were fired, but we con- 
tinued on, notwithstanding. The pilot wanted to 
anchor ; for, since the Turks were at war with the 
Greeks, no vessels were allowed to pass up the 
Dardanelles, without being visited by the proper 
ofiicer, and permission obtained to pass the Tur- 
kish castles. 

Sunday, March 10th. — Last night, about mid- 
night, we got up opposite two large batteries or 
castles opposite to each other, about fifteen miles 



rapelje's narrative. 245 

from the entrance of the Dardanelles. They be- 
gan to fire cannon balls again at us, which were 
heard to whistle by us ; one ball came between 
the masts, which greatly terrified the sailors and 
pilot. I was lying snug in bed, fast asleep, but 
it awoke me, and I heard the men running back- 
wards and forwards on deck, to take in the sails, 
and stop the vessel's way. They kept her tacking 
about till morning, when we proceeded on. The 
forts are near the water's edge, low, and mounted 
from eighty to ninety guns. There were two 
towns about them. We saw the minarets of their 
mosques ; some of them with a single spire, and in 
some country places surrounded with numbers of 
cypress trees, pointed and growing high. The 
houses appeared to be mostly of wood, and paint- 
ed red. The country seemed one of gentle decliv- 
ities and hills, but not mountainous. The Turkish 
officers of the customs came on board at about 
eight in the morning, only to take an account of 
us, and left us a permit or passport. Afterwards, 
the commander of the castle sent his boat and 
Turkish officers to take a survey of us. They 
were quite singular in dress, all wearing long 
beards, and the Turkish turban, a kind of colored 
gown, with a large cloak with sleeves over all. 
They appeared like a new set of people. I have 
lately often heard that they are honest and faith- 
ful. There came on board, the English Consul for 
the Dardanelles, Mr. Stephen Paulorick, and was 



246 rapelje's narrative. 

very polite and civil. A calm came on, and our 
vessel gromided on a sand-bar on the Asia side, 
just below the castle ; the current ran so strong 
that it drove us into the eddy before we let go the 
anchor. The vessel thumped hard and lifted up 
her rudder, but we got out a stern anchor, and 
bore her off, but lost the small anchor and small 
cable, when she again got into the current, and 
we set sail. The wind was so light during the 
day, that we dropped anchor for the night, for we 
could not go against the current; and at night 
they allowed no vessels to pass ; and if attempt- 
ed, they might have discharged more cannon at 
us, which are so large, some of them twenty-eight 
inches diameter in the calibre, that a man goes in 
with a large bag of powder, and places it at the 
bottom of the gun before the ball is put in, which 
is of marble, and weighs near about eight hundred 
pounds ; the guns are of bronze. 

Monday, March 11th. — We got up the anchor, 
and were soon under way, when a fine breeze 
came up, and we passed about thirty vessels going 
up the same way. We passed Point Nagara, 
where there is a fort, and where, some years ago, 
the British Admiral Duckworth destroyed the 
Turkish fleet ; we saw the wrecks. There were 
several Turkish men-of-war at anchor at this place. 
Near to this point, on the Asia side, are the ruins 
of Abydos. The opposite point is in Europe, the 
water being about a mile and a half wide. Here 



rapelje's narrative. 247 

Xerxes formed a bridge for his army to pass over. 
Within a sliort distance, we passed the ruins of 
Cestos, all in Thrace. Here Hero lived, the belov- 
ed of Leander, who swam over the Hellespont 
every night from Abydos to visit her, " omnia vin- 
cit amor." Last evening at sunset, and during 
this day, large flocks of wild geese, high in the 
air, were seen going north, I suppose from Arabia, 
making a noise somewhat like the people, guttu- 
ral, which differed widely from the sound of the 
American wild geese in their flight. The Helles- 
pont widens towards its approach to the sea of 
Marmora. On each side, the country appeared 
very fine. We passed several towns. Gallipoli 
is on the European side, built on low ground ; on 
its side, the land did not seem very mountainous, 
but appeared smooth, with a fine rich soil for cul- 
tivation. On the Asiatic side, there are a great 
quantity of shrubby bushes, which they use in tan- 
ning with oak acorns, instead of the bark of the 
tree. At three o'clock we got into the sea of 
Marmora, and took a view of the Island of Mar- 
mora. There was a high hill on it covered with 
snow, as were other mountains on the Asia side. 

Tuesday, March 12th. — We sailed last night 
with a fine breeze up the Marmora Sea, and at 
daylight came in sight of the great city, Constan- 
tinople. It is indeed almost enchanting to look 
at the immense circular mosques, with their col- 
umns, the city interspersed with cypress trees, 



248 

and the form of the city rising every way from the 
sea and harbor with such a gradual ascent as 
shows one house above another; also the seraglio 
and palace of the Grand Seignor, with its garden 
of cypress and other trees, and the whole taken 
together is perfectly beautiful. But when you go 
into the city, it is really a miserable and wretch- 
ed place, on account of the narrow and crooked 
streets, and houses in a dilapidated state. One 
now begins to feel that it is the greatest decep- 
tion that can be imagined. We got in at nine. 
The harbor is good. The land on the European 
side of the Marmora Sea is level, and of gentle as- 
cent from the shore ; on the other side, at a dis- 
tance in the back ground of Asia, hills and moun- 
tains appear, covered with snow ; but near the 
city the land on each side of the Marmora and the 
Bophorus is enchanting, and appears a perfect 
paradise, with the numerous beautiful evergreen 
cypress, coming to a point at the top. I went on 
shore and delivered my letter of credit to Messrs. 
Never, Kerr, Black & Co., and one of civility to 
Messrs. Wright & Co. ; both were from Mr. James 
Bell of Malta. I then went to a public house kept 
by an Italian named Josephonti, the best house, 
but this was poor enough. Every thing about it 
seems old, and going to destruction. I took a 
walk out, and saw the burying-ground. The 
Christians have the tomb-stones lying flat over the 
graves ; in the burying-ground of the Turks, in 



rapelje's narrative. 249 

another place, the tomb-stones are all standing 
upright, with the Turkish turban imitated on the 
top, and appear something like a small man's body 
with a head. The bay or harbor divides this great 
place in two parts. The bay is not very wide, 
but runs up some distance. The side on which 
the English merchants, about thirty in number, 
and the ambassadors and consuls live, is called 
Pera, and is but a small part of the great city. 
Greeks, Armenians, Jews, Italians, and Turks are 
commingled. The other side, called Constantino- 
ple, which is of great extent, comprising the Se- 
raglio Palaces, Divan, Mosques, and extensive 
bazaars, is inhabited altogether by Turks. In 
the bay at this time were lying some formidable 
men of war, five or six of eighty or ninety guns ; 
seven or eight frigates, and lesser ships of war; 
making a fleet of about thirty-five sail. They 
were at this time at war with the Greeks, and 
they expected the Russians would join the Greeks 
against them. The Turks, in common dress, wear 
immense turbans of difl"erent colors, and support 
great beards, whiskers, and mustachios. The 
Turks shave the whole of their heads except a 
small part on the top or crown, where they let the 
hair grow, for the purpose, as the ignorant say, to 
give Mahomet an opportunity to pull them up to 
heaven. But certain it is that on the back of their 
necks the hair is kept always close or shaved, 
which they make a point to show. Their cloaks 
32 



250 rapelje's narrative. 

are of all colorvS, gay and grave, as well as their 
turbans ; their buskins are generally yellow, with 
sharp pointed toes turning up, and big enough for 
two legs; their slippers are pointed, and gene- 
rally of a yellow color. They seldom appear 
without dirks, sabres, and pistols, in their belts or 
bands; some of these sashes are of cashmere, and 
very splendid ; they appear martial and terrific. 
By nature and education they are fierce and cruel. 
All males above nine years of age are ordered to 
wear their arms and sleep with them, on account 
of the present war. Meeting them at every step, 
singly or in bands in such accoutrements, they ap- 
peared to me fully as horrid in aspect, and indeed 
more so, than the wild savages of America, in 
their war dress, with their faces painted, and ears 
cut, nearly naked, except their blankets. 

Wednesday, March 13th. — The Turks pay 
great veneration to dogs ; the number of which I 
saw, wherever I walked out, was almost astonish- 
ing ; many are half starved, and they raise a hideous 
yell or howl during the night ; and to those differ- 
ently dressed from the Turks they bark and fly at. 
I had several narrow escapes from being bit. I 
went over to Constantinople in a small boat; a 
man row^s with two oars ; the boat was small and 
sharp at both ends ; these boats were ornamented 
much with carved work about them. It was about 
three hundred yards across the harbor, which sepa- 
rates it from Pera. I walked through several streets 



rapelje's narrative. 251 

to the bazaars, as they are called ; they are 
streets covered over ; the wall of one house forms 
with the one opposite a kind of Gothic arch, with 
openings at proper distances at the top to admit 
light. These streets are in every direction, and of 
considerable extent, and every vender of particu- 
lar commodities seems to have a certain street, 
with articles standing exposed in the street in front 
of these shops, which are also well stored within. 
For instance, the apothecaries or druggists, which 
were very numerous, occupied each side of a long 
street, with the drugs, paints, &c., open to view, 
heaped up in tubs, jars, and pots, set on benches 
or platforms, so as to leave just a small passage- 
way. Shoe stores, stockings or sock stores, tur- 
ban or cap stores, I need not say hats, for I never 
saw a hat worn by the Turks, silk, cloth, &c., &c. 
Each seem to have their different places allotted. 
There is a great street for pipes, both for the stem, 
which is a long piece of straight perforated stick 
with its bark on ; and the bowl of clay, of which 
are many higlily gilt, have a different street ; and 
another is set apart for the mouth-piece, made, as 
they say, of amber. This may not be wondered 
at, as the Turks invariably, I believe, are all great 
smokers. They appear very indolent, and sit 
cross-legged like tailors, in sipping their coffee at 
the coffee-houses, with the long pipes or liookers 
in tlieir mouths, some drawing the smoke through 
water. As to the women, I seldom saw them, and 



252 rapelje's narrative. 

when I did, I could hardly distmguish them from 
the other sex, whether handsome or ugly, young 
or old ; they wear turbans, with white long thin 
muslin scarfs, coming over their foreheads close 
above or over their eyes, and another covering all 
the lower part of their faces quite up over the nose, 
and seemingly leaving no apertures to breathe 
through. They wear bright orange-colored boots 
or buskins. These boots have no soles, the bot- 
toms being of the same leather as the tops ; but 
they have slippers without heels, big enough to 
thrust the fore-part of the boot in ; and these, I 
suppose, are to keep the bottoms of the boots clean, 
and to slip off and on easily ; as when they are in 
the houses, or at the mosque, they take the slippers 
off and sit cross-legged. The men are in no fear of 
their wives being unfaithful, as they seldom if ever 
go out, and never, I believe, look out at the win- 
dows. The windows are mostly grated with close 
cross-bars, some of iron, the openings between the 
bars not above an inch ! The few women I saw 
in the streets appeared quite old, from their walk, 
and what I could see of their eyes below their eye- 
brows. Their noses are nearly all covered, except 
the small part near their foreheads. 

Thursday, March 14th. — I went again at ten 
o'clock in the morning, with a Janissary as my 
conductor, to Constantinople. These Janissaries 
are soldiers or military guards for the city, armed 
with two loaded pistols and a long dirk, all placed 



rapelje's narrative. 253 

together in a belt or holster right in front, Avith 
large white turbans on their heads, a long large 
pea jacket with sleeves, dark olive color, worked 
with figures on the back in red and gold, and also 
on the sleeves. They wear long scarlet shawls 
on their necks. Thus provided, I followed my 
leader down to the water and took a boat for Con- 
stantinople. I saw the tomb, as they call it, of 
Constantine the Great. It is in a small open 
square in the street, and is now made a fountain 
of It has a sloping roof, of a kind of black stone 
or marble, about eight or ten feet long, five or six 
wide, and about six or seven feet high. In another 
part of the city, I saw an obelisk about forty feet 
high, with hieroglyphics on each side quite to the 
top, and an inscription in Latin on its base. Near 
this spot there is a monumental column built of 
square stones, much in ruins by time ; these are in 
a large oblong square, and brought there by order 
of Constantine the Great. I also visited the en- 
trances to the Seraglio ; an under drogoman, by 
giving him some piastres, took us to see the mint, 
where they were at work coining rupees, &c., &c.; 
also the grand Seignor's kitchens ; a number of 
different apartments, with many cooks of all de- 
scriptions. I entered a second large court-yard, 
which was the entrance to the Garden of the Se- 
raglio, which it was almost impiety to look at. 
On one side of this large square, is a low building, 
surrounded by a broad piazza, quite flat roofed, 



254 rapelje's narrative. 

and called the audience chamberj handsomely fit- 
ted up in the interior, as appeared from the outside 
glance I could take of it. One apartment is for 
the Grand Seignor, the other for such functiona- 
ries, ambassadors, &c., as he may choose to give 
audience. This is, I am told, the nearest approach 
to him in his palace, which is a considerable dis- 
tance through the gardens of the seraglio; and 
here, within this in closure, are all his women 
kept, attended by black eunuchs, and inclosed 
by upright railings or walls. There is a fine large 
open yard all around. I went to see several 
mosques, but could only approach the entrances, 
to kind of court yards, as they are called, which 
are inclosed by walls as parts of the mosques. I 
saw the Turks washing at one of the fonts which 
are at the side of all their places of worship, 
which ablution they perform before they enter. It 
is death for a Christian to enter unless he immedi- 
ately becomes Turk or Mahometan. I did not at- 
tempt it at such a peril. Their churches, squares, 
and streets, are not polluted with filth as the 
Roman Catholic cathedrals often are. I also 
saw the ancient subterraneous Cistern of Mille 
Collonare, as it is called, and there a thousand 
and one columns, formerly called Phyllosine's 
Cistern, built in the time of the Constantines. 
There are two shafts to each pillar, one directly on 
the other, so that one colunm is counted as two ; 
they are close together, about eight feet apart, in 



rapelje's narrative. 255 

rows, and appear circular ; the place is now used as a 
silk thread manufactory. I visited the mad-house ; 
the maniacs are confined in their cells by a large, 
long iron chain, fastened to an iron collar round 
their necks, and locked to a ring in the wall. 
There are many fountains through the city, the 
water not spouting up in a large column, as in 
Italy, but they turn cocks to get it ; and under this 
there is a large font to receive the w^ater. I went 
again through parts of the bazaars ; I did not see 
before, that there were whole streets for all kinds 
of fire-arms, mostly pistols and dirks. There were 
brass and copper smiths, who almost deafened me 
with their noise; harness and saddle makers, silver- 
smiths, engravers on stone and metals for seals, 
were to be found in whole streets, but they are far 
inferior to the modern skilful artists ; they turn a 
horizontal drill, with a bow and string with one 
hand, and with the other touched a seal to be en- 
graved, and seem not to know any thing about a 
turning lathe. I also saw the trade of w^ood turn- 
ers, all working, and sitting cross-legged, and turn- 
ing the wood with one hand, the same way as 
above described, with a bow-string, and holding 
the tool or chisel with the other. 

Friday, March 15th. — I went with my Janis- 
sary, Mustapha, in company with a Milanese gen- 
tleman, who lodged at the same house, Mr. Joseph 
Azimonti, over to Constantinople, and saw the 
Grand Seignor, Sultan Mahmoud, go from the 



256 rapelje's narrative. 

Seraglio to the Mosque of St. Sophia. He rode on 
horseback, and wore a green cloak and white tur- 
ban with a white feather, attended by his suite 
from the seraglio gate to the mosque, a short 
distance, with the first and second, black eu- 
nuchs ; and the passage, or path over the pave- 
ment for his horse, was strewed over with some- 
thing like black dirt, or sand, on each side lined 
with soldiers, in different, curious, Turkish war- 
like dresses, both of infantry and horse, making, to 
me, a grotesque appearance. He appeared a 
middle-aged man, with a long black beard and 
whiskers, a cadaverous aspect, and of middle size. 
When he was going in, a Turk, from the top of 
one of the columns of the mosque, two hundred feet, 
or more, in height, made a great bellowing, and, as 
my Janissary told me, which was to call the peo- 
ple, and proclaim that the mosque was open. 

We then came back to Pera ; and, as Friday 
is the Mahometan Sunday, went to the Mosque of 
the Dervises, where, after pulling off my boots 
before entrance, I was permitted to go in. The 
ceremony was performed by about a dozen and a 
half of men, and one boy, bare-legged, and in a 
dress something like a petticoat, and short waist- 
coat, with long wide sleeves, ash-colored, and a 
high ash-colored turban, which looks like a high 
hat, the crown twenty inches high, at least; and 
they were turning round and round in a circle, 
with their hands extended, and the petticoat 



rapelje's narrative. 257 

flying out from their bodies, it being very wide 
below, as made it appear a perfect circle around 
them, they turned so quick ; they seemed to take 
exactly the same step that dancers in a waltz 
do, and in the same circle, which is railed in, and 
the spectators remain outside, as in a circus. 
There were not atjy seats, except in the gallery, 
which goes all around the building, and in which 
is music, vocal and instrumental, rather soft, as a 
flute, or flageolet as it were mufiled, and to 
which music the Dervises dance. The building is 
not high in the interior, but matted outside, on 
which I sat with the rest, cross-legged. The 
ceiling and sides were painted diagonally, and 
very prettily, in various colors. These Dervises 
are a particular sort of monks, of the Mahome- 
tan order, differing from the others, and are as 
strange in their religious ceremonies of worship, as 
the Shaking Quakers in America ; only the Ame- 
rican Shaking Quakers admit females, with whom 
they never cohabit, but perform with them reli- 
gious dancing and singing; the Turks never al- 
low any women to enter their churches, but keep 
in their harems as many wives as they please, 
except the common men, who are restricted to 
four wives. The Turkish women paint the nails 
of their feet and hands a kind of dingy red. They 
must say their prayers, and perform their religious 
devotions at home; they paint their eye-brows 
33 



258 rapelje's narrative. 

and eye-lids, and between and under their eyes, 
of a blackish color. 

Saturday, March 16th. — The weather became 
chilly and cold, with rain, hail, and snow. 

The Grand Seignor's seraglio is composed prin- 
cipally of Georgian women, from a province in 
Asia, upon, or bordering near, the Black Sea. 
These Georgians are made slaves of, and are of 
the Greek religion, that is. Christians ; they are 
here a commodity of merchandise ; and any Turk 
can, at any time, go to the houses where they are 
kept for sale, in Constantinople, and purchase 
them; and from them a seraglio, or harem, is 
generally sought, for they are, indeed, very 
handsome women; no Christians are permitted 
to enter the houses where they are kept for sale, 
or to buy therefrom. 

Sunday, March 17th. — The weather for some 
days has been cold, with much rain, so that I had 
constantly a brazier with coals ; few houses have 
fire-places. I went this morning, with Mr. James 
Wright, merchant, to the English chapel of the 
English ambassador. Lord Strangford, being in 
that office ; heard Mr. Walsh, a clergyman, who 
is in the ambassador's family, and officiates as 
chaplain. It is said that there were only two Eng- 
lish women. Lady Strangford, and one other, in 
the place. I visited Mr. Walsh, after church, and 
found him a pleasant and agreeable man, an 



rapelje's narrative, 259 

Irishman, from Dublin. I saw Mr. Joseph Azi- 
monte, who resides at Trieste, a Milanese. 

Monday, March 10th. — I went over the river 
Bosphorus, in company with Mr. Azimonte. At 
the entrance of the Bosphorus, I saw in the centre 
of the river, the Tower of Leander. We went to 
Scutari; had my Janissary, Mustapha, with us; 
we visited the interior of the large mosque, Seli- 
ma; it being retired, I bribed the priest, with 
twelve piastres, or a dollar and a half; so we 
pulled off our boots, and entered. It was a very 
handsome building, with much white marble ; and 
the pulpit and reading desk, were all hung with im- 
mense numbers of lamps. Over head there was a 
very large chandelier, of twenty or thirty feet 
diameter, suspended from the dome. The lamps 
in it were all glass. The whole floor was covered 
with Turkey carpets, and the interior was very 
clean. We also saw the manufactories of weaving 
cloth of silk and gold, filled in with cotton. We 
walked a short distance in the environs, and saw 
a large Turkish burying-ground. It was, as my 
Janissary informed me, two miles long, and a mile 
wide, filled with upright tomb-stones, of every 
size, device, form, and description. The real 
Turks say they will not be buried on Constantino- 
ple side, being Europe, and once belonging to the 
Christian Romans, and Greeks, but will be 
brought over the Bosphorus here to Icateria, which 
is in Asia, and be buried. The river Bosphorus is 



"260 rapelje's narrative. 

about three-quarters of a mile wide ; the boat was 
of six oars, but there were only four used, by two 
men, each man rowed two oars. The boat was 
about thirty-five feet long, and just wide enough 
for two to sit along-side ; but the Turks generally 
sit flat on the bottom, sideways. The boats are 
remarkably clean, lined throughout with thin 
boards of walnut, and are built of the same wood, 
which comes from up the Black Sea. The upper 
border is broad and tastefully carved with running 
vines, leaves, &c. I paid a visit, at one o'clock, to 
the English ambassador's palace. Lord Strang- 
ford was very much engaged, but had me intro- 
duced to Lady Strangford, who was Irish, and 
who, indeed, received me with the utmost affability 
and politeness; she was a pleasant, charming lady. 
I wanted to get my passport signed, which she 
took in her hand to have done. Both the ambas- 
sador and his lady did justice to the real Irish 
friendly character. 

Tuesday, March 19th. — I walked alone, this 
forenoon, about eleven o'clock, through the bury- 
ing-ground, at the back of the house where 
I lodged, a public walk, and passage-way ; 
when two little Turkish boys, each having a 
sharp pointed knife, attacked me, as I was walk- 
ing peaceably along, and, had it not been for two 
Greeks, or Turks, passing at the moment, they 
would certainly have stabbed me, as I had no 
stick. I was afterwards told, they are, when 



rapelje's narrative. 261 

young, instilled with the principle of hatred to 
Christians. I then applied to the English ambas- 
sador, as there was no American consul there, for 
a firman, or Turkish passport, to travel with ; 
hut had not time to obtain one, as it takes several 
days. At this time, there were no vessels allowed 
to depart, for ten days, except British. The offi- 
cers of the government, Grand Seignor, and council, 
make excuses for delay, and grant no lirmans to 
any vessels to depart, on account of the unsettled 
state of affairs of the government. Lord Strang- 
ford endeavored to make pacific overtures between 
all parties. At length Lord Strangford sent me 
an invitation to dinner. I dined with him at five 
o'clock ; saw his secretary, a Mr. Hamilton, parson 
Walsh, and his other secretary, Mr. Elliott, also 
Mr. Wood, Lord Strangeway, son of Lord II- 
chester, who is attached to the embassy. A young 
man, page to Lord Strangford, with his lady, 
were very polite, pleasant, and attentive to me ; 
he is, as he told me, nephew to Col. Phillips, of 
Phillips' Manor, of New-York. He was acquainted 
with many respectable people in New- York. He 
had read Colden's life of Fulton, and had a high 
opinion of the style as well as of the force of rea- 
son, and delineation, which it contains. Such 
works raise our national character abroad, and 
should be taken out by every traveller. 

Wednesday, March 20th. — I was all day look- 
ing after my passports. Owing to the kindness of 



262 rapelje's narrative. 

Lady Strangford, who took my former passports, 
and said they should be completed for me, that 
Lord Strangford was so engaged, he could not 
now attend to it ; this was some days ago, but to- 
day I obtained a travelling firman from the 
Turkish government of the Grand Seignor, or 
Sublime Porte of the Ottoman empire, and also 
my former passport, signed by Mr. Hamilton, Lord 
Strangford's secretary, and also a passport from 
Lord Strangford himself I indeed felt very 
grateful for this kind attention of Lady Strangford, 
whom I visited in the evening. I found several 
gentlemen there, Mr. and Mrs. Hardy, concerned 
with merchant Black, Mr. Shubrick, Mr. Scorrell, 
and several others. Lady S. and Mrs. Hardy, were 
the only two English ladies in Constantinople. Mr. 
Hamilton informed me he knew George Barclay 
and his wife very well. There were about a 
dozen gentlemen, only one Turk, first drogoman 
to his Lordship. There was a conversation at the 
palace early Wednesday evening ; and Lady 
Strangford told me, sometimes in winter when 
she gives a ball, she has had some two or three 
hundred ladies and gentlemen ; but these were Ar- 
menians, Greeks, French and Italians, and other 
Christians from Asia and Europe, who had settled 
here, but no Turkish ladies ; and was informed, 
that if a Turkish lady visits in families of Chris- 
tians, and associates with them, she must marry a 
Christian or be punished. The weather had be- 



263 

come clear, but the mornings and evenings were 
very chilly. I sent a letter by post to the care of 
Mr. Barnet, American Consul at Paris, for Mrs. 
Rapelje. 

Thursday, March 21st. — In the morning I paid 
a visit to Mr. Wright, and also to Mr. Black, to 
whom I had letters ; then crossed over the Bos- 
phorus to Scutari, to see the Dervises again at 
their religious ceremonies in their mosque ; their 
motions in dancing, their screaming, singing, yell- 
ing, scolding and groaning, every other sound but 
that of weeping, the voice could utter, exactly like 
the savage cries of American Indians, turning 
about like waltzing, clapping of hands, and every 
contortion of head and body, continuing such a 
length of time, throwing their heads up and down, 
stamping with their feet, taking off their turbans 
and cloaks, and moving their bodies up and down, 
made it melancholy, as well as pitiable to me, to 
others a ridiculous infatuation. They also, I am 
told, pierce their bodies with spikes and red-hot 
instruments of iron ; but that was not done to-day. 
I saw several of their instruments hanging up, and 
instruments of music, brass cymbals, and a number 
of tamborines. There were hieroglyphic characters 
on the walls, such as of owls, and other Turkish em- 
blems. There were a number of sheep, goat and 
leopard skins lying on the floor of the mosque on 
which they sit. One man came in and laid him- 
self dowuj and stretched himself out on his back, 



264 rapelje's narrative. 

when the chief priest, or elder, put his foot alter- 
nately all over him, he being one who was sick. 
I returned, crossed over by the Tower of Leander, 
a small square tower in the Bosphorus. At five 
I dined with the English Consul, Mr. Cartwright, 
and saw there Mr. Wright, Mr. Browning, and Mr. 
Major, who was in New- York, in the year 1801, 
and knows old Mr. Theophilus Beach, and also 
Mr. Gilbert Robertson, and other gentlemen of 
my acquaintance. 

Friday, March 22d. — I went to the missionary 
or commissary for the Holy Land of Jerusalem, 
Mr. Angex, a monk of that order, of Jerusa- 
lem, and was promised an introductory letter to 
the convent at Jerusalem. At a distance I saw 
the Grand Seignor, going in his barge or caick 
boat, with about twenty-two oars, to visit the fleet 
in the bay ; this barge is very long and handsome, 
and moves very fast. It has an immense broad 
border of gilding all round it, and over the part 
in which he sits, towards the stern. A great sa- 
lute, like an engagement, was fired from the ships 
of the fleet, and guns ashore at the dock-yard or 
arsenal. In the evening, I paid a visit to Lord 
and Lady Strangford, to take leave and thank 
them for their kind attentions. He was much 
engaged, but I saw Lady Strangford, and took a 
dish of tea with her, and was highly edified by 
her conversation. She gave me much informa- 
tion of the curiosities and history of this country. 



rapelje's narrative. 265 

I have deemed it proper before I leave Con- 
stantinople, to pre.sent a brief Chronology of the 
reigning Emperors from the time of Mahomet ; 
the periods of the commencement and termina- 
tion of their several reigns, together with the most 
remarkable occurrences that tended to establish 
and distract the empire ; also the titles of the 
principal officers, civil and military. This may 
save others time and trouble. 

1. Othman. — Reigned from a.d. 1300 to 1326. — 
The commencement of the Ottoman Empire is 
fixed about the year 700 of the Hegira (the flight 
of Mahomet from Mecca to Medina, where he was 
persecuted and sentenced to die.) Othman gave 
himself out for an especial envoy from God. He 
took Iconium from the Tartars ; wrested from the 
two Andronicuses the whole of Bithynia ; died in 
August, 1326, aged 69. 

2. Orkhan.— From a. d. 1326 to 1360.— He was 
son of the former, ascended the throne, at thirty- 
five years old ; introduced splendor and magnifi- 
cence at his court, and assumed the title of Sultan ; 
coined money ; first assigned daily pay to his in- 
fantry ; formed the corps of Spatrys, or horse sol- 
diers from his subjects who possessed land or prop- 
erty ; took Nicomedia in 1327, and Nicsea in 1333, 
after a siege of two years ; also Anatolia. The 
Turks had no boats. His son, Solyman, passed 
the Hellespont, with eighty brave followers, by 
three rafts of planks, fastened together upon cork ; 

34 



266 rapelje's narrative. 

took Gallipoli, the key of Europe. Orkham died 
in 1360, after a reign of thirty-six years. 

3. Amurat I.— From a. d. 1360 to 1389. He 
was second son of the former, commenced his 
reign at the age of forty-one ; crossed the Bospho- 
rus; subdued Asia ; on his return to Europe, took 
the town of Pheres, the bulwark of Macedonia, redu- 
ced several Myian and Triballian princes ; and im- 
posed a capitation tax on his Christian subjects. 
In 1361, established the corps of Janissaries 
which afterwards proved serviceable as well as 
fatal to their master ; became master of Thessalo- 
nica, after ordering his rebel son's eyes to be put 
out; in 1388-9, defeated the prince of Servia. He 
was killed by a wounded Triballian, who was im- 
mediately cut to pieces. Amurat lived seventy-one 
years — reigned thirty. His son, Bajazet, raised a 
magnificent mausoleum for him at Prusa, the buri- 
al-place of his ancestors, 

4. Bajazet I.— From a. d. 1389 to 1403. He 
was son to the preceding ; attacked the domin- 
ions and banished his father-in-law, a prince of 
Phryiga, to Ipsela. He was opposed by Sigismund, 
king of Hungary, whose army he dispersed ; his 
troops were defeated by Stephen, king of Moldavia, 
who had acquired the surname of Gldrini, (ligJit- 
ning,) from his rapidity of movement. He van- 
quished and put to death Caraman Oghly, in Asia ; 
returned to Europe, subdued almost all Wallachia ; 
aided John against his uncle Manuel, the former 



rapelje's narrative. 267 

promising to cede Constantinople; the furious 
Tamerlane declared himself protector of the Ma- 
hometan princes, opposed by Bajazet ; after two 
desperate battles, the first on the 20th of June, 
1402, in the plains of Ancyra, and the second at- 
tacked by a host of Tartars, Bajazet was made 
prisoner, and died with grief, March 9th, 1403, 
The story of the iron cage, in which Bajazet was 
said to be confined, generally rejected as fabulous ; 
but by Gibbon is considered not wholly without 
foundation. 

Interregnum imder Solyman. — From a. d. 1403 
to 1406. — This prince, giving himself up to de- 
bauchery, received the news of the death of his 
father while intoxicated; rejected the clemency of 
Tamerlane, who invested his brother Musa as sove- 
reign of Anatolia. Solyman disputed with his 
brothers, whom he even expelled, but devoting 
himself to debauchery and wine, was killed in 
a village brawl. 

* Interregnum under- Musa. — 1406. — Who divid- 
ed his authority with his younger brother, Maho- 
met ; reduced several places in the Morea, subdued 
Servia, and defeated Sigismund, king of Hungary, in 
a pitched battle ; but sullied his victory by exces- 
sive cruelty. Indulging himself in effeminate plea- 
sures in his palace at Adrianople, he was attacked 
by his brother, and compelled to fly, was pursued by 
the Spahys, nobly defending himself, till a soldier 
cut off his arm with a cimetar. He died witli the 



268 rapelje's narrative. 

loss of blood. Neither Solyman nor Musa were 
admitted into the number of their emperors, as 
neither reigned over the w^hole empire lost by 
Bajazet. 

5. Mahomet I. — From a. d. 1413 to 1421. — 
This emperor met vs^ith but one reverse, which 
was the destruction of his fleet in the Hellespont, 
by the Venetians. An upstart named Pereiglia, be- 
gan to preach against the Mahometans, whom he 
denounced as blasphemers and infidels ; but this 
pretended apostle of God was taken and crucified. 
Mahomet was attacked by a bloody flux, which put 
a period to his life, after a reign of eight years, at 
the age of forty-seven. He reigned with justice, 
and restored to the Ottoman Empire the splendor 
which it had lost under Bajazet. 

6. Amurat n. — From a. d. 1421 to 1451. — 
Ascended the throne, when only eighteen. He 
employed the commencement of his reign, by dis- 
comfiting and putting to deaths everal conspira- 
tors who had leagued against him ; augmented 
the number of his troops, ravaging Thessaly, Blace- 
donia, and Thrace; sacrificed to his own safety 
his two brothers, whom he caused to be strangled, 
with all their accomplices in their revolt. Thessa- 
lonica he carried by assault in April, 1429. After 
taking some towns in Etolia, made peace with 
the Venetians ; but for twelve years was engaged 
in wars with his vassals, stripping them of their pos- 
sessions, and appointing successors, on whom he 



rapelje's narrative. 269 

imposed heavy fines. All these troubles occasion- 
ed by females in his court ; laid siege to the city 
of Belgrade in 1435, but abandoned the siege with 
disgrace. His army was beaten by Huanides, and 
obliged in 1444 to conclude a truce for ten years, 
with Ledislaus ; but who was induced to break it 
at the instance of Pope Eugene IV. The Turks 
marched to Varna, on the Black Sea, where a san- 
guinary battle was fought, November 10th, 1444, 
which was won by the Turks ; the king of Hun- 
gary died pierced with many wounds in the midst 
of the Janissaries. Amurat resigned the empire 
to his son Mahomet. The famous Scanderbeg, of 
whom historians relate such prodigies, compelled 
the Turks to raise the siege of Croza, killed great 
numbers, and harassed them in their retreat. 
Amurat's last days w^ere signalized by the total 
defeat of the Hungarians and the valiant Huani- 
des. An acute disease carried him off in three 
days, he died on the ninth of February, 1451, after 
a reign of thirty years and six months, and a glori- 
ous life of forty-nine. 

7. Mahomet H. — From a. d. 1451 to 1482. — 
He put to death his brother, an infant at the breast, 
whom Amurat had had by the daughter of the des- 
pot of Sinope, and compelled the unhappy princess 
to contract a fresh marriage ; reduced Caramon 
Oghly, who had revolted. He built a castle on 
the Strait of the Dardanelles, and made himself 
absolute master of that important passage ; took 



270 rapelje's narrative. 

Constantinople on the 29th of May, 1453, being 
1123 years after its foundation, and 1205 after 
that of Rome. 

One instance of his decision of character and 
his ferocity must not be forgotten. Among the 
prisoners taken in Constantinople, was Irene, a 
Greek of incomparable beauty, of whose person 
the Emperor became so enamored, that he es- 
poused her, and in the vigor of youth, and pleni- 
tude of power, resigned himself to the blandish- 
ments of his fair Sultana. His infatuation con- 
tinued for several years, during which time his 
Janissaries, whose turbulent spirits could only be 
subjugated by employment, frequently exhibited 
signs of discontent. These murmurs at length 
reached the ears of the Emperor, who could not 
be insensible to the effect which his delusion was 
calculated to produce on his subjects. His ambi- 
tion, after a long and powerful struggle, obtained 
the ascendency, and he gave orders that the great 
Bashaws and Turkish nobility should be convened 
within the palace. Into this assembly the Empe- 
ror led Irene, who had on that day been adorned 
in her most magnificent apparel. When the tu- 
mult of acclamation was stilled, which the appear- 
ance of the Emperor had excited, the Emperor 
addressed the Divan on the subject of their dis- 
contents, assuring them that he was now prepared 
to give a convincing proof how much they had 
mistaken his character, and the objects of his devo- 



RAPELJE S NARRATIVE. 



271 



tion ; since nothing but death could efface the re- 
membrance of the glorious achievements of his 
predecessors. After this address, he seized the 
fair and trembling Greek by the hair, and at the 
same time drawing his cimetar, struck off her 
head, to the amazement and terror of the whole 
assembly. 

After this dismal tragedy, he completed the 
subjugation of the Morea, added the province of 
Athens, reduced Trebisond in Asia, and put to 
death David Comineus, who had usurped the au- 
thority; attacked the knights of Malta in their 
islands in the Archipelago; and made himself 
master of Lesbos ; took Negropont in 1470 ; made 
several attacks by his general, on the island of 
Rhodes, but was compelled to retreat, 17th of Au- 
gust, 1480. Now perished the last shadow of the 
Roman Empire. He died July 2d, 1481, after a 
reign of thirty years, aged fifty-three. By the 
Turks he is styled the greatest of their emperors ; 
in their eyes, the glory of his conquests atoned for 
his vices. He conquered two empires, twelve 
kingdoms, and nearly three hundred towns. 

8. BajazetII.— From A.D.1481 to 1512.— Instead 
of repairing to Constantinople to take possession 
of the throne, he went on a pilgrimage to Mecca ; 
his brother Djim-djim, called by the Greeks Zizim, 
upon pretext that though Bajazet was the oldest 
son, yet was the offspring of a slave, raised an 
army, and made himself master of Prusa, and all 



272 rapelje's narrative. 

Bithynia, but was at last overthrown by the vizier ; 
and, on his brother's return, found an asylum with 
the knights of Rhodes. Bajazet proposed an ad- 
vantageous treaty with the knights, on condition 
of their delivering up his brother ; but they suffer- 
ed him to escape to France. He was, however, 
poisoned in 1495, by orders of Pope Borgia. Ba- 
jazet defeated the Venetians at sea; took the town 
of Lepanto, and those of Modon and Coron, in the 
Morea, laid waste the Friule, and reduced Damas- 
cus. He was poisoned by the command of his 
second son, Selim, in 1512, after having reigned 
thirty-two years. Though timid, cruel, and super- 
stitious, and addicted to wine, he was a patron of 
learning and the sciences ; built several mosques, 
and repaired the walls of Constantinople, which 
had been half overthrown by an earthquake. 

9. Selym I.— From a. d. 1512 to 1520.— Sur- 
named Yaouz^ the ferocious. After having his 
two brothers strangled, the eldest, Achmet, having 
two sons, who fled to Persia, Selim marched and 
entered the deserts of Persia, and fought a bloody 
battle in the plain Schalderoun, on the 22d of Au- 
gust, 1514, and pushed on to Tauris, which he 
pillaged. Famine began to be felt, and a mutiny 
among his troops forced him to turn back, but the 
following spring he laid waste Armenia, and put 
the king to death. At last he was compelled by a 
mutiny in his army to return to Constantinople. He 
twice defeated the Mamelukes, and took Aleppo ; 



rapelje's narrative. 273 

visited Jerusalem, and took Cairo, where almost 
all the Mamelukes were killed or hanged before 
Selim. Alexandria and all Egypt submitted, and 
he returned to Constantinople, having appointed 
two pachas to govern Egypt and Syria in his 
name. He died 22d September, 1520, reproaching 
himself, it is said, for the blood he had shed in such 
abundance, near Adrianople, the place where his 
father had been murdered by his command. He 
was fifty-four years of age, and had reigned eight 
years. 

10. SoLYMAN I.— From a. d. 1520 to 1566.— 
Invested the Island of Rhodes, which after a san- 
guinary resistance, capitulated to him on the 22d 
of December, 1522. On entering the city in per- 
son, and taking the palace of the grand master, 
observed, " It is not without pain that I am obliged 
to turn this Christian at his age, out of his house." 
He returned to Constantinople, passed those fa- 
mous ordinances, known by the name of the canons 
of Solyman. He entered Hungary, and obtained a 
victory near Mohan, and took Buda, plundering 
the city and the rest of Hungary. Hostilities were 
soon renewed. He re-entered Hungary, taking 
many places, and advanced towards Vienna. 
Here he lost forty thousand men, and was obliged 
to raise the siege, October 14th, 1529, which had 
cost him eighty thousand men. The furtlier par- 
ticulars of his reign would fill a volume ; sufficient 
to say, that by the aid of Barbarossa, the son of a 
:i.5 



274 rapelje's narrative. 

potter, who commanded the Turkish fleet, he ob- 
tained immense conquests, till August 30th, 1566, 
when he died of apoplexy, at the age of seventy- 
six, and a reign of forty-six. The reign of Soly- 
man, who is called the Turkish Alexander^ is con- 
sidered by them the most glorious of the Ottoman 
dynasty. 

11. Selim II., surnamed Mest^ the drunkard. — 
From A. D. 1566 to 1575. This reign was made 
remarkable by the Turks taking the Island of 
Cyprus; and a naval engagement in the Gulf of 
Lepanto, in which they lost one hundred and sixty- 
one galleys, and sixty other vessels ; thirty thou- 
sand Ottomans lost their lives, and three thousand 
five hundred their liberty. Selim, in a paroxysm 
of rage at this defeat, issued orders to put to death 
all the Christians in Constantinople, which Maho- 
met the vizier deferred, and was revoked the fol- 
lowing day. Peace concluded with the Venetians. 
Selim died December 23d, 1575, produced by in- 
temperance, aged fifty-two years. 

12. Amurat III. — From a. d. 1575 to 1595. — 
The day of Amurat's accession was stained by 
an atrocity, which the Turks style an act of po- 
licy ; he caused his young brothers to be put to 
death in the presence of their mothers, as well as 
two khassehkys or concubines, whom his father 
had left pregnant. The mother of one of the 
young princes stabbed herself in despair, in the 
presence of the Sultan. This prince was a com- 



RAPELJE S NARRATIVE. 



275 



pound of fickleness and pusillanimity. He had a 
hundred and two children. Debauchery and ex- 
cessive intemperance carried him off January 17, 
1595, aged fifty, after having reigned twenty years. 

13. Mahomet III.— From a. d. 1595 to 1603.— 
His first act was to cause nineteen of his brothers 
to be strangled before his face, and ten odahlyes, 
pregnant by Amurat, to be thrown into the sea. 
A plague broke out at Constantinople; next a 
famine followed, and a second pestilence. He died 
on the 21st of December, 1603, aged thirty-seven, 
after a reign of nine years. 

14. AcHMET (Ahhmecl) I. — From a. d. 1603 to 
1617. — This prince acquired glory without fight- 
ing himself; and he selected his ministers and ofii- 
cers with discernment. His harem, it is said, con- 
tained three thousand females. He died Novem- 
ber 16, 1617, in the thirtieth year of his age, after 
a glorious reign of fourteen years. 

15. Mustapha (Mousethafa) I. — From a.d. 1617 
to 1618. — This prince showed such incapacity that 
he was soon deposed, and confined in one of the 
towers of the seraglio, March 17, 1618. 

16. Othman n.— From a. d. 1618 to 1622.— 
This prince was only twelve years old when he 
ascended the throne. He was left under the care 
of a subtle and ambitious lawyer. On an attack 
on the Poles by the Janissaries, a fourth time, the 
vizier represented to the Sultan, that the flower of 
the army would thereby be sacrificed ; he angrily 



276 rapelje's narrative. 

replied, " When I have lost the asses, I v^ill supply 
their place with horses." This expression and 
others, roused the Janissaries against him, who 
demanded the deposed Mustapha for their Sultan ; 
and Ottoman was strangled May 20th, 1622, in 
the Castle of the Seven Towers. 

Mustapha (restored.) — From a. d. 1622 to 
1623. — Having been deposed four years, he had 
not, during that time, become more worthy of the 
throne, and was again shut up, September 10th, 
1623, in his former place of confinement. 

17. Amurat IV.— From a. d. 1623 to 1640.— 
Defeated the Persians, and took Revan ; killed his 
brother, Bajazet, of whom he became jealous ; at 
the siege of Bagdad, greatly signalized himself; 
took it and sacked the city ; twenty-five thousand 
of both sexes were butchered. He died of a 
dropsy, 8th of February, 1640, aged thirty-one ; 
reigned seventeen years. 

18. Ibrahim.— From a. d. 1640 to 1648.— After 
a disgraceful reign of nine years, he was strangled 
by order of the Mufti, aged thirty-one years. 

19. Mahomet IV.— From a. d. 1649 to 1687.— 
This prince was but seven years old, when his 
accession to the throne was published. During 
the greater part of his minority, the kingdom was 
rent with factions and bloodshed, but his grand 
vizier, the aged Mahomet Kiuperly, took from the 
Venetians, Candia, Tenedos, and Leinnos. At 
the age of fourteen, the Pacha of Aleppo was de- 



rapelje's narrative. 277 

feated in his presence and put to death. His gene- 
ral was defeated by the Austrians. Candia was re- 
taken 1669 ; he was obliged to raise the siege of Vi- 
enna, and his troops suffered several defeats. The 
latter part of his reign was most disastrous ; he 
was deposed and imprisoned, where he dragged on 
a miserable existence, till January, 1693. 

20. SoLYMAN II.— From a. d. 1687 to 1691.— 
This reign in its commencement was most disas- 
trous, but ultimately, by the skill and bravery of 
the third Kiuperly, all was recovered, and he en- 
tered Constantinople with all the honors of a tri- 
umph. Solyman died June 22d, 1691. He was 
regarded by his subjects as a saint. 

21. AcHMET (A/ihmed) II. — From a. d. 1691 to 
1695. — He reigned but four years ; died January 
27th, 1695, remarkable only for his imbecility. 

22. MusTAPHA II.— From a. d. 1695 to 1702.— 
This prince, at the first part of his reign, promised 
much, but yielding to improper ministers, was de- 
posed September 20th, 1702, at the age of forty ; 
and died of a dropsy the following year. 

23. AcHMET III.— From a. d. 1702 to 1730.— 
After a reign of twenty-eight years, in which many 
factions occurred, by a too submissive belief in 
his ministers this prince was deposed October 2d, 
1730. 

24. Mahmoud I. — From a. d. 1730 to 1754.— 
This prince filled the throne nearly twenty-five 
years ; he was endowed with a mildness of dispo- 



278 kapelje's narrative. 

sition calculated to make his subjects happy, but 
was long afflicted with disease, and died the 13th 
of December, 1754. 

25. OsMAN, or Othman III. — From a. d. 1754 
to 1757. — A reign short and barren of events. 

26. MusTAPHA III.— From a. d. 1757 to 1774.— 
This prince met with many reverses during his 
reign, and was one of the best that ever swayed 
the Turkish sceptre. He died January 21st, 1774, 
after a reign of sixteen years and five months. 

27. Abdul Hamyd.— From a. d. 1774 to 1789.— 
After a reign of fifteen years, which had been 
marked by a variety of events, he died in 1789, 
much regretted by his subjects. 

28. Selim III.— From a. d. 1789 to 1807.— 
After several defeats, and the loss of several king- 
doms and provinces, he was deposed in 1807. 
During this reign occurred the celebrated battles 
of the Pyramids El Aryth, Mount Tabor, Aboukir, 
and Heliopolis. 

29. MusTAPHA IV. — This prince was dethroned 
the same year in which he was elected. 

30. Mahmoud II. — 1807. — The reigning empe- 
ror. 

THE COURT. 

The Sultan, or Grand Seignor. — Sulthan is 
an Arabic term corresponding with klian^ which is 
Tartar. The word keliah likewise signifies king 
in the game of chess ; hence, chat mat (the king 
is dead) which the Italians render by scacco matto, 



RAPELJE'S NARRATIVE. 279 

and we by check mate. The three principal titles 
of sovereignty, are eimjr, chief or prince, and 
synonymous with maiik, king, and sulthan, power- 
ful, for the temporal authority ; that of imam for 
that of the spiritual ; and that of khalyfah for the 
union of both ; this latter word signifying lieute- 
nant of the prophet. It is a fundamental princi- 
ple of the Mahometan religion that every person 
ought to work, after the example of the patriarchs 
of old. David, for instance, was a smith. Thus 
most of khalyfs and sultans follow some profes- 
sion. 

GOVERNMENT OFFICERS. 

The Grand Vizier — Prime Minister. 

The Kiahya-Begg — Deputy to the Vizier. 

The Caimacain-Pacha — Lieutenant to the Vi- 
zier. 

The Defterdar — Minister of the Finances. 

The jReis Effendi — High Chancellor and Minis- 
ter for Foreign Affairs. 

The Tchaouch-Bachy — Secretary of State, has 
in his department the administration ; introduces 
ambassadors. 

EXTERNAL GOVERNMENT. 

Beygler-Beggs — Governors General of Pro- 
vinces. 

Pacltas — Inferior Governors of Provinces or 
Towns. 

ARMY. 

Scr-Asker — Commander-in-chief, or general of 
an army. 



280 rapelje's narrative. 

Beggs — Governors of a district or town ; oth- 
erw^ise Begs. 

NAVY. 

The Capitan-Pacha — Grand Admiral ; all offi- 
cers of the navy are under his command ; he has the 
same authority at sea, as the Grand Vizier by land. 

The Tersanah-kiahyacy — Chief Vice- Admiral. 

The Tersanah-aghacy — Lieutenant to the Capi- 
tan-Pacha. 

The Begg — A Captain. 

The Guardian-hachy — Inspector-General of the 
galley slaves. 

The 7?eis— Pilot. 

JUDICIAL ORGANIZATION. 

The Mufti— l^\\e head of both Law and Reli- 
gion. 

The Cadhy — Minister of Justice in towns ; Jus- 
tice of the Peace. 

Cheykh-Islam — Mufti of the Cathedral. 

Cazy-Askers — Judges ; the former, ssadr roum; 
the latter, ssadranadely. 

fstambol- Cadhy cy, or Effendycy Ordinary 

Judge of the city of Constantinople. 

Ulema^ or Molla — Next in rank to the Mufti. 

JVagijb-m-Echraf— Chief of the Nobles. 

Cheryf and Emyr — A lord ; a master. 

JVaibs — The lowest class of Judges. 

RELIGION. 

The Mufti — The head of Religion, as well as 
of the Law. 

The Chcykhs — Preachers in the mosques. 



rapelje's narrative. 281 

Khatyhs — Ministers who perform their func- 
tions on Fridays. 

Imams — Perform the ordinary duties of public 
worship. 

Muezzyns — Announce the hour of prayer from 
the tops of the minarets. 

Cayyms — Keepers and servants of the mosques. 

Dcrvises — Religious enthusiasts of different 
classes. 

Drogoman — Interpreter. 

DIFFERENT TRADES. 

Bazaars — Diversions, music, hunting, and fish- 
ing. 

Couyoumdjy — Goldsmiths, gold beaters, and 
gold wire drawers. 

Calemkiaz — Engravers. 

Tchokhadjy — Woolen drapers. 

Cathyfeldjy — Linen drapers and silk mercers. 

Boyadjys — Dyers. 

Terzy — Tailors. 

Miimars — Masons. 

Dulguei' — Carpenters. 

JVaccah — Painters. 

Diamdjy — Glaziers. 

Qiliddjy — Armorers. 

Sarradje — Saddlers. 

Ainahdjy — Looking-glass makers. 

Cachycdjy — Wooden spoon makers. 

Ssah/iaf — Book sellers . 

Etmekdjy — Bak er s . 

36 



282 rapelje's narrative. 

Beurekdjy — Pastry cooks. 

Kehahtchy — Keepers of cook shops. 

Under the head " Constantinople," I would 
recommend a list of the Turkish Emperors from 
Mahomet the Founder to Mahmoud II., the pre- 
sent emperor, with the dates of their reigns. 

Preamble to one of the Sultan's firmans, part 
12, volume 3, page 32, mentions of the death of 
these Sultans. 

Scite of the present seraglio, page 35. 

The names of different officers, civil, naval, and 
military. 

Arms. 

Captipari. 

Juclicia. 

Religions. 

Profession of Faith. 

Buildings. 

Public Baths. 

Mosques ; Tombs ; Sepulchral Chapels. 

Sunday, March 24th. — Yesterday, at one 
o'clock, I went on board the same vessel, the 
Dart, Capt. Vaux, to go to Smyrna, with a fair 
wind, and pleasant weather, going seven knots an 
hour, during the afternoon; but we had a calm 
some part of the night. As we sailed along plea- 
santly, I saw an immense number of porpoises 
sporting around the ship, just before dark. We 
proceeded, during the night, as far as the Island of 
Marmora, which we saw early in the morning, 



' rapelje's narrative. 283 

and went again into the Dardanelles, or ancient 
Hellespont. There were two passengers besides 
myself; a Greek merchant of Smyrna, and a 
French lieutenant of the frigate Guerriere, now at 
Smyrna, a pleasant, agreeable man, about twenty- 
seven years old, who spoke English pretty 
well. We sailed, with a delightful breeze, about 
seven or eight knots an hour, and came to another 
town called Leanderi, in the entrance of the Dar- 
danelles, out far from the Marmora sea. At two 
o'clock we passed Negropont, on the one side, and 
another fort on the other, built near the ruins of 
Cestos. We came to the narrow pass of the 
Dardanelles, where there are large forts and bat- 
teries on each side, both in Asia and in Europe ; 
there are towns near them called the Dardanelles 
of Europe and Asia. We had to cast anchor, and 
send a boat on shore to the custom-house. The 
vessel was examined by the officers from shore, 
although the wind was fair and strong. This 
caused some delay ; we were now a hundred and 
fifty miles from Constantinople, and about the 
same distance from Smyrna. 

Monday, March 25th. — This morning we 
sailed by the Island of Mitilene, which is quite a 
large island, about fifty miles long, and near the 
Gulf of the Adriatic. We had passed Cape Baba, 
before we came to Mitilene, and now passed the 
Gulf of Sanderie, and got to Smyrna, after a fine 



284 rapelje's narrative, 

passage, with pleasant weather. Smyrna is about 
three hundred miles from Constantinople. 

Tuesday, March 26th. — We sailed last night, 
with a light contrary wind, in the Gulf of Smyrna, 
but had constantly to tack about the ship all 
night, in passing Long Island, in the bay. The 
land appeared sterile and volcanic, and very 
hilly ; raisins and oil are its chief products. I 
wrote a letter to Mrs. Rapelje, to the care of Mr. 
William Vaughan, Fenchurch-street, London. I 
wrote to Mr. Jacob Mark, American consul, at 
Cork, and the post-master general, at Gibraltar, 
to receive and keep my letters for me, for my fur- 
ther instructions, or arrival. We sailed along 
some low lands, near the shore, which was a 
very handsome place. Some few miles before we 
got to the castle, we saw along the shore, on the 
opposite side of the bay, numbers of large heaps 
of salt, which were made there. The country 
abounded in orchards of olive trees. When we 
were near the castle, the captain was obliged to 
go to Smyrna in the boat to get a permit, or tuhco- 
ra^ before they could let the vessel pass the castle. 
When at anchor, during the night, we heard the 
croaking of numerous frogs, the bleatings of ante- 
lopes, and the screeching of jackalls; all of which 
are plenty in the highlands, near the shore. The 
city of Smyrna is eight miles from the castle. 

Wednesday, March 27th. — We lay at anchor 



rapelje's narrative. 285 

all night, at the castle, and this morning, at ten, 
got under weigh, and went up to Smyrna, at two. 
I delivered my letters, one to Messrs. Wilkins & Co. 
who gave me another to Messrs. F. G. Wilkinson 
& Co., at Alexandria ; and also to Mr. Fisher, to 
whom I had a letter of credit, from the house of 
Kerr, Black & Fisher. Mr. Fisher, and also 
Mr. Wilkins, were very civil; and I was very 
sorry to leave them so soon, for I had no oppor- 
tunity of seeing any thing of Smyrna, as a brig, 
the Daphne, Capt. Llewellin, was going to sail 
immediately for Alexandria. I took my passage, 
and went on board, after only being in Smyrna 
three hours. There were very few English there, 
but more than at Constantinople ; in all, about a 
hundred and fifty, men, women, and children; I 
was, on the whole, glad to be off, as the Turks 
and Greeks were inveterate towards each other. 
The taking and retaking of Scio are subjects 
which can never be forgotten. Assassinations are 
matters of daily occurrence. We remained all 
this night at anchor, near the castle, where we 
came to, in the evening. I paid Capt. Vaux 
seventy dollars for my passage to Constantinople, 
and from there to this place. 

Thursday, Marcli 28th.— All last night we 
were at anchor at the castle, and, in the morning, 
there was a head wind ; we waited, however, for 
the Madona. British sloop-of-war, Capt. Hay, to 
convoy us. There was here another sloop-of-war, 



2S6 rapelje's narrative, 

the Martin, Capt. Askew ; and also three French 
frigates, and two men-of-war, brigs, an imperial 
frigate, and several brigs. We remained at anchor 
all day, with a strong high wind, but the weather 
was clear. I could form no judgment of the city 
of Smyrna, having been so few hours there. Near 
the city is a small stream, said to have formerly 
been a river, where the great Grecian poet, Ho- 
mer lived and died. Some part of Smyrna, near 
the bay, is low, and that part inhabited by the 
Greeks, French, &c.; the other part rising on a 
hill, is Turk-Town, and inhabited by them. I 
heard that the Turks had killed fifteen Greeks 
this day. 

Friday, March 29th. — Several Greeks, and 
others, say six were killed to-day. I thought my- 
self lucky in being on board. We got up the 
anchor, and sailed at five in the evening, under 
convoy of the Madona sloop-of-war, of twenty 
guns. At eight there was much sea, considering 
that the wind was light ; there were two passen- 
gers on board ; one a young Armenian gentleman, 
clothed in the Turkish costume, who spoke Turk- 
ish, Arabic, Greek, French, and Italian ; also a 
Turkish merchant; both of them had their ser- 
vants. The Turk's servant was a beautiful Ma- 
meluke Circassian, white boy, a slave. These 
servants are treated more like children than 
slaves. 

Saturday, March 30th. — The wind was con- 



rapelje's narrative. 287 

trary most of the night, but quite light. We 
passed along between the Island of Scio and the 
main land of Asia. There was great cannonading 
all day at the town of Scio ; it was reported the 
Greeks had taken part of it, and were endeavor- 
ing to subdue it altogether. The most of it w^ as 
in possession of the Turks. As we sailed along 
the shore, it appeared of considerable extent. It 
was, to all appearance, beautiful ; once the hand- 
somest town in the Turkish dominions. In the 
evening, the lieutenant from the English sloop-of- 
war, the Medina, Capt. Hayes, came on board of 
us, and said, that, on account of the cannonading, 
he must go to Scio, and see the English consul 
there, and that we could come to anchor, or keep 
on ; the wind being right ahead, we kept beating 
to windward all night, as also did our commodore. 
Sunday, March 31st. — We came within a few 
miles of the town of Scio, this morning, the can- 
nonading still continuing. We saw a number of 
vessels of war off Scio ; I thought them Greeks. 
One of them bore down upon us, came up, hove 
to, and sent her boat on board to see who was 
come. Three of our passengers being Turks, 1 
begged the captain to stow them away ; and the 
steward put them away in some small locker. If 
they had been seen, all our men said, the Greeks 
would have instantly put them to death ; indeed, 
the passengers appeared very much terrified. 
The Greek vessel was a handsome man-of-war, 



288 rapelje's narrative. 

a brig of sixteen guns, and one of the squadron 
we saw, consisting of seventeen sail, of about the 
same size, all besieging the town of Scio. All the 
morning we were sailing past the castle and forts, 
yet in the possession of the Turks, who were con- 
stantly bombarding at it, as they passed it, the 
castle returning the fire ; in this manner a heavy 
cannonading was kept up. They informed us, 
that they had cannon on a hill, commanding the 
castle, and had landed from their own, and other 
boats, which we saw along the coast, four thou- 
sand men ; and that they had found the pipe, or 
aqueduct, that supplied the castle with water, 
and cut it off; and that they had killed about five 
hundred Turks. 

Monday, April 1st. — The wind was high all 
day; we kept beating, as it was contrary, and 
passed the town of Chesema, on the Asia coast, 
opposite to Scio, in a bay ; it a23peared to be all 
built of stone, on a side hill. Scio, on the island 
of the same name, has large suburbs, and beautiful 
country places, with handsome gardens ; and, for 
a considerable length along the shore, looked like 
numerous villas, with trees and corn-fields. Our 
convoy, the English man-of-war brig, returned to 
Smyrna, and told us to make the best of our way 
to Alexandria, to which city we were bound ; but 
the wind was so high, and right ahead, that we 
came to anchor in a small bay on the Asia side. 

Tuesday, April 2d. — The wind blew a heavy 



rapelje's narrative. 289 

gale all last night, and this day, from the south^ 
directly contrary. We lay at anchor near a vil- 
lage, inhabited by Turks ; from the severity of the 
gale, almost a hurricane, the brig drifted, and drag- 
ged her anchor ; and v>^e had to let go another 
anchor. She had two good chain cables, and the 
two anchors held her. There was a little rain in 
squalls during this morning. 

Wednesday, April 3d. — The wind continued to 
blow hard and contrary all the day. 

Thursday, April 4th. — During last night, we 
had hail and rain. To-day, at one, we got under 
weigh, with a favorable wind, which was varia- 
ble, squally, and, at times, lulled to a calm. We 
then bade adieu to Scio. The cannonading was 
renewed this morning. 

Friday, April 5th. — We were all last night 
sailing, with sometimes light wind, and, at others, 
heavy squalls ; and there was some rain ; the wind 
varying from south to south-west, and west. Our 
course was about south-east by south. We pass- 
ed, this morning, between the Islands of Samos 
and Nicara; at the former, a pleasant wine is 
made. At one o'clock, we passed the Island of 
Patmos, where St. John wrote the Revelations. 
I saw a castle on a hill; the island is high land, 
with several other small islands around it. It 
was to the west, as we passed, and is now inhabit- 
ed by the Greeks, as they had lately taken it. We 
then passed between the main land of Asia, along 
37 



290 rapelje's narrative. 

the Cape of Carabozelle, and between it and the 
Islands of Pero, Calmino, and the Capri Islands ; 
also the Island of Stanchio, held by the Turks, 
which contains a fine large town and harbor, 
called Port Stanchio, where we intended to stop, 
and get some provisions ; but the wind blew high, 
a fine, fair gale, so we continued on. It was very- 
picturesque sailing along those islands, which 
were of all sizes and shapes; some high and 
pointed, and small, like a sugar-loaf, ornamented, 
as they appeared at a distance, with cragged 
rocks, as if shot up in chrystals, a quarter of a 
mile in diameter, quite low from the water, and 
seemed covered with verdure. Pigeons in great 
numbers were flying around these rocks as their 
habitations. It was, certainly, very beautiful 
sailing past them, especially in the vicinity where 
St. John wrote the Revelations. We then pass- 
ed the Island of Stanchio. The town, of the 
same name, is very prettily situated, and close 
down to the water's edge. The main land of 
Asia, opposite about twelve miles off. The culti- 
vation on Stanchio is good ; the island, at this 
time, was all in verdure ; the back of it rising gra- 
dually from the shore. There are hills and moun- 
tains throughout the island, which is high, broken, 
and volcanic in appearance. The opposite coun- 
try of Asia Minor is the same. I saw also a long, low 
point of Stanchio, with wind-mills on it. I must 
remark; that all the islands about Patmos ap- 



rapelje's narrative. 291 

peared volcanic; and it may be possible, that, 
when John w^as there, he might have seen them 
thrown up by an earthquake; for many of his 
chapters of the Revelations seem hieroglypliical 
and typical ; particularly his description of angels 
and devils. Certainly he was in a state of fear ; 
for he speaks of his great terror, when describing 
what he saw. One, in reality, as I passed it, put 
me in mind of the great beast, or dragon, with ten 
heads and seven horns ; having as many, as he 
describes, high, projecting-top hills, or rocks, with 
intermediate low parts, as give it, in truth, the 
resemblance to a great and tremendous animal ; 
and, in John's great fear and trembling, he might 
likely have taken it for such. 

Saturday, April 6th. — Last night we passed 
the Island of Rhodes, where the great collossal 
statue of Rhodes once stood ; so tall that ships 
sailed between his legs, as he stood from one point 
of the harbor to the other; but the statue, which 
was of bronze, was taken down by the Turks, 
who are all Mahometans, or Mussulmen, and who 
cannot bear the idea of having images or idols as 
the Roman Catholics do, and made into those 
great cannon I saw at Smyrna, the Dardanelles, 
and Constantinople. This is said by the Turks. 
Rhodes is a fine large island. During the night, 
we sailed with a fine, fair northerly wind, blowing 
during the day a heavy gale ; our course south- 
and-by-cast, the ship rolling much, and going 



2^ rapelje's narrative. 

eight and nine knots an hour. There were now 
no more islands to be seen. Rhodes is about 
three hundred miles from Smyrna. This is now 
commonly called the Levant Sea, which, at five, 
six, seven, and eight, ran tremendously high. 

Sunday, April 7th. — This morning the wind 
and sea fell so much, that at twelve they set stud- 
ding sails, and we had a delightfully pleasant day. 
A young man of thirteen or fourteen years old, 
named William Hadley, was passenger with the 
captain. They were both from Swansea in Wales. 
The boy was a noble youth, and both he and Capt. 
Llewellen were very pleasant and agreeable in 
their manners ; the latter very much of the gentle- 
man; he sung elegantly, and his company was 
much courted, as he made it very pleasant and 
accommodating. He had none of that tyrannical 
harshness, many conceited captains use to all 
around them when on board of their ships. 

Monday, April 8th. — This morning at daylight 
we got into soundings of six, seven and eight fath- 
oms. We were off the western branch of the Nile, 
and passed Abouker Bay, where Lord Nelson 
with Sir Sidney Smith had gained a famous vic- 
tory over the French fleet. The small island just 
off, was named after him. The water is very 
thick, of a yellowish color, as if clay was dissolved 
in it. The wind fell away, and it became calm at 
eleven. The coast along the Levant is quite low 
and flat. 



rapelje's narrative. 293 

Tuesday, April 9tli. — All last night we had to 
stand off and on, as no pilot came on board. This 
morning at eleven, got up to Alexandria, after 
having taken a pilot on board. It is a fine har- 
bor ; the wind being ahead, we had to beat in. I 
saw on one side, the ruins of the old city, along 
the bank of the shore in the harbor, for a great 
distance. A number of Turkish men-of-war and 
merchant vessels of other nations were at anchor 
there ; one English ship-of-war, the Comet, Capt. 
Smith, but not a single American vessel. There 
was no pest or plague raging ; and part of the 
Turkish fleet got under weigh, and went out, as 
report said, to Cyprus. Alexandria is six hundred 
miles from Smyrna, and nine hundred from Con- 
stantinople. I had been four days going from Con- 
stantinople to Smyrna, and from Smyrna to Alex- 
andria thirteen days, and eleven from Smyrna Cas- 
tle. We got into Alexandria at one o'clock, and 
I put up at a miserable place, called the Maltese 
Hotel, kept by a French woman. I then delivered 
an introductory letter to Mr. Wilkinson, from Mr. 
Williams of Smyrna, and another of credit from 
Mr. Fisher, of the firm of Kerr, Black & Co., to 
Messrs. Gliddon, Brothers & Co. I went with 
Mr. Gliddon to see Mr. Lee, the English Consul, to 
whom he introduced me; afterwards I saw Mr. 
Maddon, a traveller of London, and went with 
him and Capt. Llewcllen, to see Capt. Smitli, of 
the English sloop-of-war, Adventure, on board of 



294 rapelje's narrative. 

Capt. Cupper's brig, and spent the night there. 
They kept it up till sunrise ; it was a fair take in, 
but perfectly accidental to all. Capt. Llewellen, 
with whom I had come passenger, was the best 
singer I ever heard; he excelled, I thought, the. 
stage singers ; and there was not a song which he 
did not know. He was admirable in his imitation 
of the French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, German, 
&c. &c. 

Wednesday, April 10th. — I changed my lodg- 
ings, as I could get no bed-room at the Maltese, 
and went to the Greek Hotel, kept by a Spaniard. 
I dined with the English Consul, Mr. Lee, and met 
Capt. Henry Smith there, the gentleman I saw 
yesterday, who has published an account of some 
islands in the Archipelago, and some astronomical 
observations ; and a week before I came here he 
ascended the pillar of Pompey by a rope ladder 
like the shrouds of a ship. He flew a kite over the 
pillar, and so getting up a rope, succeeded in fixing 
his shrouds for an ascent. There was here a Mr. 
Maddox, the son of the famous brewer, a good 
hearty buck of about forty, whose face was the 
image of that of George IV. Two other gentle- 
men were here also, one a Mr. Burton, who was 
going out as mineralogist to the Pacha, and Mr. 
Thermen, Mr. Lee's partner. I found Mrs. Lee a 
pleasant and agreeable lady, and Mr. Lee himself 
also a pleasant, well informed, polite gentleman. 

Thursday, April 11th.— I went with Mr. Mad- 



rapelje's narrative. 295 

dox and visited the old city ruins, and saw^ Cleopa- 
tra's Needles, one standing, the other having fallen 
down by it, and it is very remarkable that it was 
not broken. The English w^ere going to take it 
to London ; but in my opinion, they w^U never be 
able to move it, being so large. It is sixty-six 
feet long and seven feet square, and to appearance, 
solid red marble, covered on each square with Ori- 
ental, Egyptian, or other hieroglyphics from bot- 
tom to top ; consisting of eagles, cows, owls and 
other unintelligible figures, to w^hich, I heard a key 
had lately been found, for the explication of all 
the Egyptian characters. We then w^ent across 
the ruins of this once famed city of Alexandria, 
and saw the foundations of a great number of im- 
mensely large buildings, some of the walls of red 
brick. We then went to the magnificent column 
long known as Pompey's pillar, which is seen from 
almost every part of Alexandria, and even ap- 
proaching from the ocean, it is the first object 
which attracts the eye of the mariners. The shaft 
of this immense column is eiglit feet and a half in 
diameter, and in Clarke's Travels is stated as 
sixty-three feet in height ; and the w^hole, including 
capital, shaft, and pedestal or base, to be eighty- 
three feet six inches ; but it is, in my opinion, much 
higher, and measured a week ago by a Mr. Henry 
Smith, whom I have mentioned, who made it ninety- 
three feet high. It is the most beautiful piece 
of architecture I have seen ; the proportion accord- 



296 

ing to the most perfect science of the ancients ; 
but at this day it would be thought bad taste to 
have so small a base. The proportions to an 
architect, I would venture to say are most exqui- 
site ; the inscription on it is illegible or unintelligi- 
ble, notwithstanding what may be said to the con- 
trary by antiquarians who spent a whole day to find 
out one character, which is said to compose the word 
Dioclesian. We then went over a considerable 
plain of sand. We were on donkeys, with an Ara- 
bian muleteer running after us, who was the 
owner of the donkeys, to the sea-shore, and visited 
the catacombs and sepulchres. We entered with- 
in a few feet of the ocean, where we saw passages 
in every direction, and were informed, we might 
traverse them for three or four hours, being so 
lengthy and arched, and cut out in all shapes. 
The ocean has gained, to appearance on the land ; 
it looks for miles, where the water now is, as if it 
was formerly dry land, and was probably sunk by 
an earthquake. My opinion is, that here there is 
much volcanic matter. All these are without the 
walls of the present Pacha to encircle the city, and 
they are said to be seven miles in circumference. 
The columns of Cleopatra, or, in modern language, 
obelisks, being square, are in my opinion a compo- 
sition ; for it seems to me impossible to have got 
up a solid block of such a size and weight. 

We then rode to the catacombs of Necropolis, 
which are considered among the greatest curiosi- 



rapelje's narrative. 297 

ties of the world; being, as it is supposed by 
Egyptian symbols found within them, to be more 
ancient than the foundation of Alexandria, by the 
Macedonians. I entered them near the sea, within 
fifty feet of the water, but did not go far, although 
the guide said they could be traversed in one 
direction for three hours ; and that in the course, 
would be seen large and smaller sepulchral cells, 
and caverns of great extent and magnitude. We 
brought out some bones ; but whether they were 
placed there lately or not, is uncertain. I should 
suppose that bones would become decayed in the 
lapse of ages. The sea evidently had made great 
encroachment on the domains of the dead. I saw a 
large bath, of great antiquity, filled now by the 
sea. The walls around it are eight or ten feet 
high, divided in chambers, of ten feet square. It 
seemed as if the ocean had come over a large 
tract of land, which was, probably, sunk by an 
earthquake. There is a very extensive building 
going up, of several hundred feet square ; there are 
numerous square columns, at ten feet apart, in the 
interior, probably to support an arched roof. The 
building is being erected by the Pacha, to contain 
grain, and it is thought it will contain fifteen mil- 
lion five hundred thousand bushels. It is at the 
beginning of the great canal, lately cut to Cairo. 
I observed numbers of boats lying near it, filled 
with corn and beans ; and there were men con- 
stantly carrying these articles on to the Magazine. 
38 



298 rapelje's narrative. 

I went, in the afternoon, two miles and a half, to 
see the field of the great battle of 1801, where 
Abecrombie was killed ; and saw the square, a 
very large inclosure, formerly an immense build- 
ing, supposed to have been a mosque, as might be 
conjectured from the appearance of the walls ; 
that was one of the severest conflicts ever known. 
Two regiments of the English army were encoun- 
tered and surrounded by large bodies of French 
troops. They fought hand to hand, with bayonets 
taken off their muskets ; but no trace of the battle 
now remained ; not even a bone that I could see. 
There was only one stone, just at the east outside 

corner of the square, of a Colonel ; the rest 

were defaced. 

The water for the city of Alexandria is 
brought on camels' backs, in leathern bags, hung on 
each side of them, like two saddle-bags, but much 
larger. Each one will hold from twelve to fifteen 
gallons. There are immense numbers of camels, 
in every direction ; but no carts, or wagons ; all 
burdens are taken on the backs of camels. These 
animals always lie down while they are loading 
them. The common conveyance, or travelling by 
land, is on donkeys. There were some horses, but 
very few ; and those appeared to be Arabian, and 
handsome. 

Friday, April 12th.— The living, as to meat and 
vegetables, is well. I found a good dish of tea, 
or coffee, in the Italian or French style. I called 



rapelje's narrative. 299 

to see Mr. Gliddon, and Mr. Lee. The weather, 
at night, was very cool and pleasant. 

Saturday, April 13th. — I was employed in see- 
ing about a boat to go to Cairo; a Mr. Burton, 
whom I had seen at Mr. Lee's, was going, so I 
waited at home for him. I went, on a donkey, to 
see the boats at the canal, with the English con- 
sul's Janissary. I saw, on some old walls, cakes 
of straw, camel's dung, and weeds, mixed togeth- 
er, and formed into flat, round cakes, about five 
or six inches in diameter, and as thick as a ship- 
biscuit, and much resembling the brown ones. 
These are dried, and used for fuel. 

Sunday, April 14th. — Young Mr. Hadley came 
and spent the day with me, at my lodgings. It 
rained nearly all day. In the afternoon, I went 
again with him to see the obelisks, called Cle- 
opatra's Needles, and Pompey's Pillar, which is 
beautiful ; and the more I contemplated it, the 
more I was convinced it was formed together by 
cement. The hieroglyphics on the obelisks also 
have the appearance of having been indented by 
a wooden mould. On the latter is no polish ; but 
the Pillar of Pompey shines like glass, from the 
polish ; whether it is the original polish, I much 
doubt. 

Monday, April 15th — Mr. Sherman called on 
me, this morning, at seven o'clock, to go and see 
the Pacha of Egypt; Mr. Burton accompanied 
us. The latter gentleman being here by the Pa- 



300 rapelje's narrative. 

clia's desire, as chemist, mineralogist, and bota- 
nist to his highness. We went to his palace 
along the sea, or bay shore, when we were in a 
few minutes ushered into the Audience Chamber, 
first passing through a large outer apartment. He 
sat at the upper end, near the corner of the cham- 
ber, and, I suppose, cross-legged. His large cloth 
cloak, however, concealed or covered his legs and 
feet. He wore a large, beautiful, variegated, ca- 
mel's hair turban ; had a long beard, and musta- 
chios, rather gray. He appeared about fifty, or 
more, and was smoking an immense long pipe; 
at least, seven and a half feet long. The pipe 
was, indeed, a curiosity, adorned with silk, having 
two large silk tassels, hanging from the top part, 
a foot from the mouth-piece, and run down to about 
two feet from the bowl, which was highly gilt. The 
stem appeared to be set round with two or three 
rows of diamonds, and the bowl was resting in a 
silver saucer, about six or eight inches in diameter, 
on the floor. By his side there was an elegant green 
necklace of beads, of emerald ; it lay on the 
broad sofa, together with a large precious stone 
snuff-box ; a large, handsome spy-glass, in order 
to see the ships coming in, or going out of the 
harbor ; also two or three handsome handkerchiefs 
were placed by his side. The sofas were full 
four feet wide, and continued around three sides of 
this large room, covered with handsome figured 
chintz, on a white ground ; the backs w^ere of 



rapelje's narrative. 301 

the same, and were stuffed very full. The room 
was matted, and had many windows in it; the 
whole, however, was of miserable architecture. 
There was a good deal of wood work in the room ; 
the whole ceiling was carved, but very badly; 
and all appeared of modern architecture, but there 
was no paint on the wood. The curtains were 
scanty and scrimped, of the same materials as the 
sofa. There were about a dozen armed atten- 
dants, in different habits and cloaks ; many of 
them were without shoes; they, all but two, stood 
opposite to us, in the lower part of the room ; we 
were requested to sit near, on the same sofa. 1 
had the honor to sit next to him. The two atten- 
dants, near us, had shoes and slippers, and were 
his interpreters ; one had been in different parts 
of Europe, a Mr. Gibraltar, and speaks several 
languages. I told him I was very sorry we had 
no ambassador, or consul there, and would be glad 
to have commerce with them. He replied, " You 
shall be as well taken care of as if you had ; I will 
see to that," which was very civil ; and further- 
more stated, that he would have no objection to 
treat with us, and have commerce, provided it 
could be on reciprocal terms. The other conversa- 
tion was directed to the young man, Mr. Burton, 
who was trying to analyze some earth the Pacha 
had sent him, in expectation to see if there was any 
gold dust among it, which was sent by the Pa- 



302 

clia's son, who was in the interior ; no result had, 
as yet, been produced, for want of some menstru- 
um, or drug, to make the experiment. We were 
handed a small cup of coffee with the Pacha ; 
and then, after a little while, we departed. In 
the evening I supped at Mr. Gliddon's ; his wife 
played and sung charmingly. I felt anxious to 
get on to Cairo, but resolved to wait for the com- 
pany of Mr. Burton to go up to the Nile ; so I 
remained, strolling and lounging about, doing no- 
thing material. There were heavy showers of 
rain last night. 

Wednesday, April 17th. — I went to-day, in 
company with Mr. Maddox, to see near a dozen 
Egyptian mummies, all from Thebes, in Upper 
Egypt. They were in the sarcophagi in which 
they were embalmed ; these are two thick wooden 
cases like coffins, with faces carved and painted 
on the top of each, and opposite to the face within 
are hieroglyphic figures all over them ; with the 
inside one is the body, covered over with linen and 
bound close to it ; the gum which is in it makes it 
look like silk and ribbons. The paintings are as 
fresh as if just finished, although the sarcophagi 
has been entombed three thousand years. Over 
the bodies were a number of strings of beautiful 
blue beads and thin tufted brown colored shavings, 
in very long pieces about an inch wide laying over 
the body, said to be from the duomo tree ; these 



rapelje's narrative. 303 

mummies are dug up, sent here, and by a mer- 
chant, intended as articles of merchandize; and 
the prices were froma bout thirty to fifty dollars. 

Thursday, April 18th. — In the afternoon, Mr. 
Hicks, first clerk to Mr. Lee, took tea with me. 
The musketoes were very troublesome ; tliey had 
filled my face with red spots as if I had the 
measles. 

Friday, April 19th. — I was at Mr. Lee's, where 
I met Mr. Maddox, and also a Mr. Spurrier, a tra- 
velling gentleman, just returned from Cairo ; then 
dined with Mr. Lee and his family. I had to get 
some provisions prepared to take up the Nile, 
as I expected to go to-morrow. I also wrote a 
letter to Mrs. Rapelje. Mr. Hicks, and another 
clerk to Mr. Lee dined with us. 

Saturday, April 20th. — I saw men taking 
water to the several different families, which was 
brought on the backs of camels in two large leath- 
ern bags, like saddle-bags, one on each side of the 
animal, and holding about a barrel or more each ; 
the driver has another leathern bag, being the en- 
tire skin of a goat, which is hung over his shoul- 
ders with a strap ; the water is drawn, and he car- 
ries it away in the house and fills the jars. Messrs. 
Maddox and Spurrier breakfasted with me; the 
latter was a great traveller, and I took his Arab 
servant to go back to Cairo. I dined at the Mal- 
tese Hotel, in company with, and by invitation of 



304 rapelje's narrative. 

Messrs. Spurrier and Maddox, and took leave of 
Mr. Lee, the English Consul, 

Sunday, April 21st. — I set off at eleven in the 
morning, and went on board of a boat called a 
canjea, about thirty feet long, and eight wide, 
which I hired to take me to Cairo for sixty-five 
piastres, or six dollars and a half, and had with 
me the Arab servant, who spoke Italian, who had 
been recommended by Mr. Spurrier. There were 
four men to manage the canjea. I had great trou- 
ble to get out several Arabs and Turks who had 
come on board as passengers. I had to drive them 
out of the boat after it had shoved off from the 
shore. I was obliged to take a firm stand of cou- 
rage, by taking the sailing pole, and so shoved the 
boat to shore, and Mr. Spurrier, wdio had come to 
see me off, assisted in driving them out. Mr. Bur- 
ton was on board a much larger canjea, he having 
two young men with him, and a guard of the Pa- 
cha's. We intended to proceed in company ; they 
poled the boat for some distance along the canal, 
then towed her with a long rope, the men w^alking 
on the bank ; we stopped and viewed the Lake 
Meriotes, which formerly, for an immense distance, 
was level land, then partly a salt lake, but now it 
is all covered with water. A fair wind came up, 
and they hoisted a large trysail, and proceeded on 
a few miles, when the wind came ahead, and they 
run their boats ashore along the east side of the 



rapelje's narrative. 305 

canal, very near Lake Meris. Here was an em- 
bankment, which separated the lakes from the 
canal on each side. We got out and went to see 
Lake Meris, which appeared like frozen water, or 
exactly like an ice pond, it being all an incrusta- 
tion of salt, which indeed is excellent. The boat- 
men got a large basket and bags, and filled them 
with the salt. The sand blew about us at this 
place so high as to make it difficult to keep the 
eyes open. The wind continuing contrary, and 
very high, we, as numbers of other boats, were 
obliged to remain along the side of the canal. I 
had articles of provision and wine, with bread, 
&c., put up, and had to show them how to make 
me force meat balls of their mutton and goat's 
meat ; and I also bought a mattress, sheets, mus- 
ketoe net, towels, cork-screws, knives, forks, &c. ; 
with a teapot, and cooking utensils ; also charcoal 
for fire, candles, &c., &c. We got under weigh at 
about eight o'clock ; and, after proceeding up the 
canal with a fair wind, at about ten, it blew a 
perfect hurricane, and upset four canjeas, in one 
of which was Mr. Burton, my companion, and with 
him his two young men, and his conductor, an offi- 
cer of the Pacha. They were immersed in water as 
the boat sunk ; but, by breaking in the side of the 
cabin, which was of slight deal board, they just 
escaped drowning ; luckily she sunk at the side of 
the canal. We, in our boat, providentially escaped 
by letting the sail fly, which run my canjea ashore, 
30 



306 rapelje's narrative. 

near Mr. Burton's boat ; he and his three other 
companions were wet to the skin. I made them 
come into my boat, and gave them all dry clothes, 
and they stayed with me all the rest of the night. 
Mr. Burton met with a very serious loss, as every ar- 
ticle of his baggage was perfectly water-soaked; his 
chemical laboratory, mineralogical implements, 
and all his botanizing apparatus, books, maps, 
charts, prints, furniture, cooking materials, medi- 
cines, guns, clothes, &c., &c. ; all of which, with 
numerous other articles, of letters, papers, and 
provisions of every kind sunk together ; but, by 
having the Pacha's cavass, or one of his sergeants- 
at-arms, as his conductor, he met with less of a 
loss than he otherwise would have done. During 
the night the canal boatmen dived into the water, 
and got some boxes and chests to land, also a 
thousand dollars in silver. 

Monday, April 22d. — By order, and in the name 
of the Pacha, as he is absolute, they are in danger 
of losing their heads not to obey his orders or 
those of his sergeant-at-arms. Two large boats 
w^ere ordered to stop, which they instantly did, 
and assisted in hoisting up the boat, and every ar- 
ticle was landed, but perfectly water-soaked, and 
many entirely ruined, which cannot be replaced 
without sending to England for them. From the 
three other boats that upset and sunk, it was said 
four persons were drowned. I saw one whom they 
had got up and laid on shore; there were three 



RAPELJE'S NARRATIVE. 30/ 

men and one female ; they were either Turks or 
Arabs, or Armenians, I knew not which. Tlie air 
during the upsetting of the boats, was pierced with 
the cries and shrieks of the Turks and Arabs, as 
in such cases they give themselves up to despair, 
and begin praying. This course, I had often heard 
of, and now found it verified ; they make no effort 
for their own preservation. I was most providen- 
tially saved, for the boats that upset, were before 
and behind us. These squalls came on all of a 
sudden ; the sand was blown from the banks, 
mixed with small fluted shells, about the size of a 
muscle shell, some larger and some smaller, and 
perfectly filled the air about us like driving hail- 
stones. I breathed the sand and dust so much as 
to feel it between my teeth, when I opened or put 
them together, even with my lips closed, so pene- 
trating was this fine dust. The sheet around me, 
and the floor of my cabin was literally covered 
with small kinds of musketoes, gnats, or flying bogs, 
and many fleas, large spiders, and cockroaches 
w^ere there, and rats in other parts of the boat ; 
the latter often running through the small cabin. 
I remained all day where my companion's boat 
sunk. They had the boat bailed out before night, 
and all their effects again on board ; but they 
remained with me in my cabin during the night ; 
thinking it safer not to go on till morning, on ac- 
count of last night's misfortune, and hearing of 
many boats' upsetting by the hurricane, which 



308 rapelje's narrative. 

was an unprecedented occurrence at this time of 
the year. 

Tuesday, April, 23d. — We got under way at 
seven in the morning ; the weather was fine, clear, 
and pleasant, during yesterday, last night, and 
to-day. Sometimes we were towed by our Arab 
boatmen, when the wind failed, and sailing when 
it blew a fair wind; so that, alternately sailing 
and towing, we made considerable progress. The 
banks on each side of the canal appeared alluvial 
soil, of the blackest and richest kind, and of a 
crumbling nature. We constantly passed boats 
with corn and merchandize, and passengers ; those 
that carry loads only are called geicrms, and small 
ones, for passengers, called canjea, or kanga, one of 
which I had hired ; other larger ones, for taking 
both passengers and goods, are called encashes. 
The boatmen, and others of the Turks and Arabs, 
called one Hadjaic, or Pilgrim going to the Holy 
Land. This canal was cut by the present Pacha 
a few years ago. He is absolute over his subjects, 
and had two hundred and forty thousand men em- 
ployed, and forty thousand lost their lives in labor- 
ing at it, although they were only obliged to work 
at it a few hours each day. The 7^ais, or captain 
of our boats, stopped in the evening, and went 
ashore to get bread, and remained all night. A 
number of vessels, loaded with soldiers, (Arabs) 
passed us, going down the river to Alexandria, to 
prosecute the war against the Greeks, 



rapelje's narrative. 309 

Wednesday, April 24th. — There was heavy 
ram, thunder and lightning, last night, while we 
lay on the canal. We got under weigh, with a 
fair wind, at day-light; and, as I have observed 
before, the wind and weather constantly changing 
every few hours. It fell nearly calm, and they 
alternately towed and sailed ; and, at last, came 
into the Rosetta, a branch of the Nile, here about 
a quarter of a mile wide, and just above the oppo- 
site point where the canal enters it, is the town of 
Touire. Here we stopped, and got milk, sugar, 
&c., and sugar-cane. Here, for the first time since 
I entered Egypt, I saw any thing like vegetation ; 
and it opened before us, after coming out of the 
barren banks of the canal, with all the enchant- 
ment that romance has given to the East, and 
particularly to this noble river. The gardens 
along the banks are filled with the palm, date, and 
other trees, with their blossoms sending forth the 
delightful perfumes of the East, to regale our 
senses. I now found myself in a different country 
from any I had yet been in. Here were oxen, or 
buffaloes, and camels, and all domestic animals, 
lining its banks. There were birds, in immense 
flocks, in the air. Oxen, buffaloes, and jackasses 
were employed in turning a wheel connected to a 
rope, over a drum, or barrel, which rope goes to 
the water, directly perpendicularly below, let in 
there by a ditch out from the river ; and to this 
rope are fastened pottery, jars of about half a gal- 



310 

Ion, which go down on one side empty, coming up 
full on the other. It is a piece of machinery like 
chain pumps ; and, in my opinion, it is impossible 
for the art of man, with all the modern improve- 
ments, to invent a hydraulic machine more 
simple, or less expensive, or one requiring less 
power to raise so much water in so short a space 
of time. The Arabs, along the banks of the river 
at Fauice, are very numerous ; numbers of boats 
of passengers constantly arriving and departing, 
makes it all life and bustle. All the crew, wiien 
rowing, have a peculiar quick boat-song, to which 
the oars keep time. The town is small, the streets 
very narrow, not more, generally, than six feet 
wide. I remained all day. Mr. Burnet, my com- 
panion, had an express sent him, that a large 
maish was coming to take him to Cairo, and for 
which we remained all day. 

Thursday, April 25th. — As Mr. Burnet's maish 
did not arrive, I proceeded on at eight in the 
morning, in my canjea. Although we had separate 
boats, we kept constant company together, and 
were on board of each others boat to breakfast, 
dine, and sup, alternately. Opposite Fouice 
is an island. We took the right hand branch of 
the Nile, going up, and, after a few miles, got to a 
small town called Salmacia. The cultivation 
above the low land banks is carrie don, as far as 
I could judge from a view from the boat, to great 
perfection; now and then a group of date or 



rapelje's nakkative. 311 

palm trees, with the verdure that lines the banks 
on each side, make it beautiful sailing up the great 
river ; and all along I heard the squeaking of wood 
upon wood, being the wheels the oxen were turn- 
ing every few hundred yards, all along the banks, 
to irrigate the corn fields, and in which they employ 
many cattle. For the whole season it must be 
continued, or there would be no crops, for want 
of rain, which seldom falls, but the dews are ex- 
cessive. I then passed two other towns, a short 
distance further. Gauffer, Shehessor, and, on the 
opposite, on the left, is Gauffer, and Jilme; we 
passed numberless towns and villages ; and 
the whole bank, on each side, is like a con- 
tinued village, with their ships, and machines for 
drawing water. Women, girls, and boys were at 
work ; boats passing and repassing, crossing and 
re-crossing, made it, as it were, one continued 
lively village. Here were seen fertile fields of 
wheat, nearly fit to cut, bowing Avith heavy 
loaded grain, and there, j^ mosque, or bais rear- 
ing its columns, with beautiful white country 
houses interspersed. The surface of the level 
fields, which is the same all along the Nile, 
on each side, are about from three to six, or eight, 
or ten feet above the river. There are lots of idle 
Turks, or Arabs, sitting on the ground along 
the banks, wherever there is a town or village, 
also numbers of camels, goats, sheep, horses, jack- 
asses, oxen, cows, geese ; and buffaloes, in great 



312 rapelje's narrative. 

droves, lying with only their noses out of the river. 
The water is superior to any I ever drank; so 
soft, so sweet, and so healthy, notwithstanding 
what may have been said to the contrary. In 
the evening we stopped at one of the numerous 
villages along the shore, and got some milk and 
butter ; and, just before sunset, while the wind 
slackened, we got out, and walked on the right 
hand, or western, or Afric bank of the Nile. The 
bank was about twelve or sixteen feet high here, 
and the country level, and a very rich soil. The 
wheat was just turning color ; the stem is short, 
and the heads also, and bearded, but have plump 
grains. On this side, my Arabic servant told me, 
the water did not overflow, but just come up level 
with the earth on the bank. The river has been 
as near as I could judge, from three to five, or six 
hundred feet wide in its course. At this time I 
was, I vsuppose, a hundred and twenty miles from 
Alexandria. 

Friday, April 26th. — We laid close to the bank 
all night, the wind being ahead ; in the morning 
at seven, proceeded, the boatmen alternately sail- 
ing, stopping, rowing, and towing; the wind, it 
seems, blows fair from the north ; the boatmen 
have a peculiar boat song, when rowing, sitting, 
or towing ; it consists of a recitation of five notes, 
being a response of the same, continually repeated 
over by the men, to a recitation of the captain or 
helmsman of also five notes or five syllables, com- 



rapelje's narrative. 313 

posing a verse or line, the last word always rhy- 
ming with the last of all the laborers' response; 
and indeed it is very melodious to the ear, although 
at first it may seem harsh, when unaccustomed to 
such music. It is much the same as the sailor's 
" Ho, heave, ho!" thus encouraging themselves, as it 
were, to lessen labor. The weather was delight- 
fully fine, cool nights, and not over hot by day. 
We stopped at a village called Magela, where we 
got eggs, bread, and onions. The houses were 
all made of mud bricks, unbaked, and very low 
like huts. The words of the boat tune by the 
oarsmen are, Aha, hala, saw, and of the captain, 
Jolem, ha, ha, sol, valuara, oulatique, no o aswa- 
salaw a, ha, sa, loo, a, ha, wau, ca, la, winheison, 
waula, ba, da, awa, &c. Along the shore of the 
Nile, you are seldom out of the sight of girls, with 
water jars to get water, all of the tawny drab 
race ; and, in the middle of the day, the women, 
girls, and children, the last in numbers naked, all 
plunging in the river, and swimming like fish. The 
females wear a kind of blue frock, and nothing 
else, and that is loose like a shift, and comes down 
only to their knees ; they plunge in with this on, 
and, when over their middle, they hand it to a 
companion that is not a swimming ; one day I saAV 
two swim to the middle of the river. I was in my 
boat passing. If I had been nearer, likely they 
would not have exhibited their alertness or trial 
of skill in swimming. During the day, we passed 
40 



314 

a number of villageSj and the same observations 
may serve with respect to all things as yesterday ; 
the boat going on with a fine fair wind ; at ten 
we were about thirty miles from Cairo. 

Saturday, April 27th. — At about eleven last 
night, the boat struck her bow ashore at a village 
called Souiac Trousine ; it was absolutely neces- 
sary, I found, for the men to stop every night, 
which is the case, to get some rest and sleep ; as 
there were four men, the captain included, it re- 
quired their constant attention, even when the 
wind was fair, which often blew so hard in squalls 
as to require one to hold on the sheet of the sail, 
ready to let go, as the wind falls, and then the cur- 
rent being so strong, they either row, sit with 
poles, or tow her ; and she often runs on a sand- 
bank, when they have to pole her off, which they 
soon do. We got some milk and butter at the 
town before we started ; we then went on, and 
saw several boats loaded with Turkish soldiers, 
some going up, and some down the river. Al- 
though the middle of the day was warm, at night 
I was glad of a couple of blankets ; the mornings 
and evenings are delightful, and I could easily bear 
a great coat. We passed two villages a few miles 
above, one each side of the river ; one was a short 
distance above the other. I saw droA^es of sheep 
and goats along the banks, and numbers of cows, 
bullocks, and buffaloes in the river. Both men 
and boys were riding on the backs of the buffaloes, 



rapelje's narrative. 315 

tending the large drove that were in the river, 
with their whole bodies immersed, the tops of their 
backs and heads only above water; the cattle 
seemed to delight and enjoy themselves in being 
in this delightful river; the water has, indeed, a 
peculiar sweet flavor, and is quite soft. A number 
of Turks and Arabs, men, women, and children, 
were sitting around a circle on the sand, the 
women by themselves, and also the children, near 
the water, all along the river ; and about this place 
for the first time, I observed the beach covered 
with small stones or pebbles. The river was 
here very winding and of very different widths ; it 
is wider here than elsewhere ; there are so many 
mouths through the Delta, is the cause of this 
beginning to widen, as I was nearly approaching 
where all the branches join; as I thought, it must 
be a short distance below Grand Cairo, which I 
was most anxiously looking out to see, and hoped 
every moment to get a glimpse of what has been 
my principal inducement for visiting Cairo, the 
great wonder of the world, the Pyramids. I pass- 
ed Tries, and some few miles above, we put ashore 
the boat and slept there all night. 

Sunday, April 28th. — We started at daylight; 
the wind ahead, and had to tow the boat. I got 
out and walked on the right bank of the Nile, and 
had a fine sight of the pyramids at Gaza. I saw 
two which were very huge, and which looked like 
little mountains, and one smaller. As the wind 



316, rapelje's narrative. 

became favorable, we returned to the boat, and 
got to Grand Cairo at twelve. My baggage was 
examined at the shore, at a place or town called 
Bulac, about a good mile and a half from Cairo. 
I got on a donkey, and my baggage was put on an- 
other, and I may say my furniture also, and my 
man Friday, or Arab servant, and donkey driver 
along side, running on foot. We rode to Cairo, 
and put up at the French or Garden Hotel, and 
miserable enough it was. I saw Capt. Gordon, of 
the British royal navy ; he was very civil and po- 
lite ; I went with him to visit the English Consul, 
Mr. Salt, who was very kind and civil, and is a 
very agreeable man. I also met there a Mr. Ross. 
I then went to Mr. Delavaratore, to whom I deli- 
vered a letter of credit from Mr. Gliddon of Alex- 
andria, who also offered me his services. This 
Grand Cairo is indeed a wretched hole, the streets 
very narrow, not above three, four, and five feet 
wide ; the upper windows projecting, and nearly 
touch each other. Along the banks of the Nile it 
is pleasant, but the sand or dust, like an impalpa- 
ble powder, pervades your clothes, mouth, skin, 
and is very disagreeable to the eyes. 

Monday, April, 29th. — I went at six o'clock in 
the morning, in company with Capt. Robert 
James Gordon, of the royal navy, each mounted on 
a donkey, to visit the great wonders of the world, 
the pyramids at Gaza, about eight miles from 
Cairo. We passed Old Cairo, and its ruins, 



rapelje's narrative. 317 

examined the barracks, which is a large building, 
I saw also in passing the field, or campus mars, a 
small pavilion, where the Pacha comes to see the 
horsemen and troops perform their evolutions 
and martial exercises, such as throwing the javelin 
while running their fine Arabian horses at full 
speed, stopping, and turning suddenly. In these, 
and other feats of the kind, they are very expert. 
We then crossed over the ferry, by the Island, 
the ancient Memphis, where the Nilometer is now 
inclosed in a large building, being an instrument 
to show the rising and falling of the Nile; but 
persons are not allowed to see it without a permit. 
We passed also the famous ancient aqueduct, a 
short distance before we got to the ferry. Two 
men, one each side the donkey, joining hands 
under him, raised him off the ground, and carried 
and sat him down on the boat. We then landed at 
Gaza, opposite, and rode about four or five miles 
over a beautiful plain of well cultivated fields, 
with a rich soil, abounding in crops of wheat and 
barley, just ripe. They were then just plucking 
the flax. We also passed very large flocks at 
pasture. There were there droves of goats, 
sheep, buff'aloes, bulls, oxen, cows, camels, and 
horses ; and some, or most of the cattle, were of a 
superior stock, beautiful and elegantly formed ; 
and many of them of a very large breed, espe- 
cially the cows, and other neat cattle. The 
horses were small, but well turned, and in good 



318 rapelje's narrative. 

condition. These flocks and herds were to be 
seen as far as the eye could reach, over this rich 
valley, and over which the Nile flows, and causes 
its fertility. When approaching within half a 
mile from the pyramids, the sandy desert com- 
menced, and the surface of the ground began gra- 
dually to rise, but appeared drifted sand, which 
surrounds the pyramids. They are immense piles 
of stone ; the largest one which I paced along one 
side, two hundred and thirty-eight paces ; that 
is now the base to appearance along the present 
surface of the rubbish and sand ; and they suppose 
the foundation is as much as two hundred and 
forty feet lower ; its vertical height now above the 
present surface, is about four hundred and fifty 
feet, and its sides inclining to an angle of about 
sixty degrees ; the other large one, which is very 
little less in size, stands near to it, about six hun- 
dred feet apart ; and is rather of an acute angle, 
and the outside stone work, not put together so 
well, and is much more difficult to ascend, and, 
indeed, thought impracticable ; but the gentleman 
whom I accompanied to visit them, with a full re- 
solution and determination, I saw ascend quite to 
the top of the second pyramid, which, it appeared, 
had never been ascended by any one before, ex- 
cept one, as Capt. Gordon found the name of Wil- 
kinson there only. The top he described, as about 
ten feet square, formed by one stone, covering the 
top, with ancient characters. From a key to 



rapelje's narrative. 319 

them, it was translated from one or two of the 
characters, Secret Egypt, meaning, I suppose, in- 
closed in the pyramid. Capt. Gordon had the 
greatest difficulty to get over a projecting case- 
ment, about one-third of the way from the top, 
that still incloses the top, and which, in many 
places, afforded not more than two or three inches 
to set his feet on. To ascend this casement was a 
perilous undertaking ; for the stones and mortar 
crumbled like dust under his feet, having been 
there for how many thousand years, is unknown ; 
a constant decay is going on. The whole case- 
ment of the largest one is fallen, although that is 
the best built pile. I saw him from the top, and 
was relieved from much anxiety, as I thought it 
impossible he could ever get there safe, although 
three Arabs accompanied him ; but those he had 
constantly to encourage, as they were often at a 
loss to find a hold for their feet. I entered the 
great pyramid, with an Italian, who was com- 
panion to Mr. Cavillia, employed by Mr. Salt to 
explore about the pyramids. They treated us with 
every mark of attention and hospitality. They 
are settled in some of the ancient tombs, or sepul- 
chres, all hewn out of the solid rock ; but it must 
have been soft stone. They lived there like the 
peaceful hermit ; they obliged us to stay and dine, 
and showed us every mark of civility and atten- 
tion. We went into a passage, about mid-day, of 
the pyramids, of about four or five feet wide. Our 



320 rapelje's narrative. 

way led downwards, each carrying a lighted wax 
candle. After ten or fourteen paces descent, we 
ascended again a standing passage of four or 
five feet wide, and of considerable height, and 
arrived at a royal chamber of about twenty by 
thirty feet, where was a large sarcophagus empty, 
and sounded, by striking it with a stone, like West- 
minster bell. This was supposed to be the king's 
chamber. I entered by another passage into 
another chamber, smaller, called the queen's. 
There were men now at work, digging through 
some rock to find out other chambers, which they 
think they have a clue to. They showed me the 
pit that descends to the well, very deep in the 
interior. I had no wish to go down into the 
awful chasm. I had to enter and return through 
some of the passages, for a short distance, in a 
crouching, bending posture, being only about four 
feet high. It was not very difficult ; some little 
climbing was necessary; but I was pleased to 
return from this astonishing labyrinth to the 
light of day again. I suppose we traversed about 
two hundred feet, or more, from the entrance to 
the king's chamber. We saw there an immense 
stone of granite, covering over the centre of this 
chamber, of twenty-five feet long, and six or eight 
feet wide, and four feet thick; the sides of it, also, 
and the passages to it, were mostly granite ; many 
of the stones were eight feet, or more, long, and 
wide and thick in proportion, and laid with as 



rapelje's narrative. 321 

close a level and even joint, as if fixed by a cabi- 
net maker. The exterior is a kind of limestone, 
which seems fast going to ruins. I then viewed 
the sphynx. It is an immense human head, with- 
out arms ; the head is of beautiful proportion ; it 
is joined to a lion's body, the paws stretched out 
sixty feet before it, and it has an immense back, 
in a recumbent position. The head has been found 
lately. The sand has covered the paws and back 
nearly over ; the head and body are still high 
above the surface; about thirty feet, or perhaps 
more. It is about thirty feet in diameter. The 
outside appeared of harder cement than the inte- 
rior, and of a darker color. It is, I believe, solid, 
that is, one plastic ; but it is falling to pieces, and 
decaying, as large holes are made in several parts 
of the mass ; it seems fast mouldering away. We 
returned in the evening quite tired. 

Tuesday, April 30th. — I visited the cellar under 
a small chapel, now of the Copts or Greeks, which 
they showed me, and seemed to speak with confi- 
dence, that Jesus Christ was there taken by his 
mother, the virgin Mary, when he came into the 
land of Egypt, as ordered, for the fear of Herod. 
We then went in another direction, on a hill, and 
saw an oblong square, very deep, which is said to 
be Jacob's well. They are constantly drawing 
water from it by oxen or buffaloes in the same 
manner as the water is drawn up along the Nile, 
41 



322 rapelje's narrative. 

with earthen jars or buckets around a wheel, 
fixed to a cord or rope, and acting as a chain pump. 

There are two sets of wheels, and it is so deep 
that one set is worked by oxen, half way down, 
where there is a reservoir. I parted with my 
Arab servant and took another one, a Portuguese, 
who spoke Arabic and English. He conducted 
me to these places. The citadel now incloses 
Jacob's well. Most of the city is mouldering 
away, and is in a ruinous state. The weather is 
quite hot ; Fahrenheit's thermometer is up to 
eighty-five in the shade, and in a room against a 
plastered wall. 

Wednesday, May 1st.— I was visited by the 
English Consul, Mr. Salt, and dined with Mr. Gor- 
don and a Mr. Osman, who is drogoman to the Eng- 
lish Consul, and he conducted us to the bazaars, 
and also to the citadel, where we descended into 
Jacob's well. It is a hundred and fifty feet deep, 
and we went down about two-thirds of the way, 
where oxen were turning a wheel which raises 
water from one reservoir to another at the top. 
We next went to the Caliph's tombs, which are a 
great curiosity. They are square buildings, like 
houses, with a dome on each, which is from ten to 
twenty feet in diameter. Some had large fluted 
ridges from the top to the base ; others are differ- 
ently ornamented with fanciful figures carved on 
them. The stone is soft when first taken from 



rapelje's narrative. 323 

the quarries, and afterwards grows harder. The 
w^eather this day was very warm ; the thermome- 
ter rose to ninety in the shade. 

Thursday, May 2d. — I dined with Mr. Salt and 
his wife, who is quite handsome and pleasant ; I 
also saw her mother, both of whom were Italians ; 
also a Mr. Brown, a traveller, Mr. Santini, cancil- 
laria, and Mr. Ross. Mr. Salt has one child, a 
very handsome infant, fourteen months old. Mr. 
Burton, Capt. Gordon, and a Swedish baron, took 
tea with us. The latter was making an experi- 
ment to find out an improvement on the Congreve 
rocket. The thermometer in the shade this after- 
noon was up to ninety-three. It seldom rains 
here. 

I here insert an extempore by Capt. Gordon, 
while sitting with me a few minutes; our rooms 
were next to each other. I was going with him to 
Thebes, but the weather was so hot and requiring 
a larger boat, I gave it up, and thought to return 
to America, going first to the Red Sea, and Jeru- 
salem, and then by the way of Russia, &c. 



Far from your land, you now do boldly roam, 
Nor think of wife and cliccrful friends at home. 
For Thebes' glories you must see at last, 
Those lofty masses braving every blast. 
But yesterday, some pompous king, I ween, 
Some upstart chieftain, or some lovely queen, 
Gave costly banquets, did, as monarchs now. 
And made, no doubt, a busy, splendid show. 
To-day, what sec you near that ancient town? 
What is there worthy of the great renown, 



324 rapElje's narrative. 

Which poets sing of. and historians praise 7 
The granite column was not worth their lays : 
Believe me truly ; risk not life to see 
These great remains of immortahty. 
Return to Russia, leave this sickly strand, 
And gladly reach your own, your free-born land. 

Friday, May 3d. — I went to get a firman from 
the consul, and to get my passports endorsed, 
who said he would obtain for me a firman from 
the Pacha. I visited a large building erected by 
the Pacha for a manufactory of different kinds of 
wares. The Swedish baron introduced me to a 
Mr. Jumel, French or Italian, who was superin- 
tendent. I wrote a long letter to Mrs. Rapelje, 
and left it with the English Consul, Mr, Salt. 

Saturday, May 4th. — I went to see the Pacha's 
garden, about four miles down the river Nile ; 
where there were trees of all kinds of fruit ; the 
grounds were laid out very handsomely. In the 
inside, in some parts, are elegant baths which I did 
not see, neither the interior of the palace, owing 
to my not having any one along with me but the 
mule driver. I would recommend it to all travel- 
lers to take gold or silver with them to this place ; 
for I found it very difficult to get even fifty dollars 
on a letter of credit which I had for upwards of 
three hundred. I found Capt. Gordon to be a gen- 
tleman of great talent and research, amiable, and 
worthy in every particular. He was going alone 
to discover the source of the Nile, and I sincerely 
wished that every success might attend him. The 



rapelje's narrative. 325 

following lines, written by him, I am sure will 
prove acceptable to my reader. 

Par from that land, where Freedom sweetly smiles, 

You quit your wife for England's fertile isles; 

See France, and Naples, Smyrna, and Sestos, 

The Pyramids, and wonders near Pharos ; 

The winding Nile, the Well of Jacob, too, 

The town of Cairo, and its buildings new ; 

The works which Egypt's haughty chieftain made, 

The glittering soldiers, at their gay parade ; 

The dusky lasses, with their teeth so white. 

The slaves their market, prospect of delight} 

And now for IViebes you are to go at last, 

To see those Ruins braving every blast ; 

Those splendid columns, and those tombs so old ; 

Those faqades, arches, and their sculpture bold. 

Forgive me, friend, nor risk your life in vain, 

If you should fall, to wife and friends what pain ! 

Ah, quit this pesty and infectious strand, 

And go, by Russia, to your native land ; 

Embrace your wife, and cultivate your farm. 

Keep neighbors cheerful, and yourself from harm; 

Let younger men Jerusalem's wonders see, 

You've done enough for immortality. 

If this advice should meet your kind regard, 

The writer then will have a great reward. 

To feel, and know, he strives not now in vain, 

But warns you back to Freedom's land again. 

R. J. Gordon. 

Sunday, May 5th. — I endeavored to get camels, 
or dromedaries, to go to Suez, on the Red Sea ; 
but the English tried to discourage me from going 
all they could. I did not know why. 

Monday, May 6th. — I went to see chickens 
hatched in ovens ; a very curious process. The 
ovens are square, small apartments, two together, 
above one another, each about two or three feet 



326 

high, and about six by eight feet square, with an 
aperture like the mouth of an oven, for a man to 
go in and iix, and turn, and regulate the eggs. 
There were eight or ten ovens, and seven thousand 
eggs in each. There is a circular hole of about eight 
or ten inches across, of communication between 
the upper and under oven, both of which can only 
be reckoned as one ; for the eggs are first put in the 
under one, on a kind of short straw, or horse litter. 
The fire is made in the upper one, of horse or 
camel's litter, sand or clay, and straw, mixed 
together, and is kept of a gradual heat for ten 
days. The eggs are then taken and placed in the 
upper oven ; first removing the fire, and, in ten 
days more, the chickens begin to appear. This 
was at Gaza, opposite to the Island of Memphis, 
called by the Arabs, Rhodes. 

Tuesday, May 7th. — This morning, at about 
eleven, I started off on a donkey, and my baggage 
and provisions on a camel, for Suez. The camel 
owner, or driver, or contractor, agreed to come for 
me at daylight this morning, as I heard, there was 
a caravan going. This was found me by Osman, 
one of the English consul's drogomen, and no- 
thing, it seemed, could be done without him. He 
was a Scotchman, made a Turk. He agreed with 
the camel owners to take me to Suez, about 
seventy miles ; and to have thirty piastres, or two 
dollars and a half, for one camel, as I had no 
servant, finding them both troublesome and ex- 



rapelje's narrative. . 327 

pensiv^e, and those that pretend to speak English 
and Arabic, I could seldom be satisfied with, 
they speaking both one and the other unintelligi- 
bly. Having paid the driver half of the money 
beforehand, he went wuth me, on a donkey, about 
three or four miles out on the desert, towards 
Suez, where he put my mattress in one of the 
tents of the Arabs, w^ith my other things, and left 
me the camel, and a boy ; and, I suppose, returned 
to Cairo, on the donkey. About thirty yards from 
this Arab village, I saw several men. Tents 
were pitched there, and the Arabs w^ere waiting, 
but I knew not for what; but they were going to 
Suez. This was the caravan I was to join ; and 
this, no doubt, the place of meeting. It may 
easily be imagined how any one like myself would 
have felt, not understanding Arabic ; however, I 
had got a little patience by travelling, or I should 
have been outrageous, for I remained in the 
wandering Arabs' tents all day ; but I found them 
very civil. An old woman was the inhabitant 
of my particular tent, and her man was in and out 
during the day. The women, with their children, 
girls, and boys, came around the tent, and, at last, 
when having confidence, would come near, and 
squat down around me, on the ground ; I giving 
the children some small presents, of a thin, small, 
metal coin, called pare, equal to the hundredth 
part of a dollar. Those Arabs, although a wild 
race of people, are as much alarmed, esj)ecially the 



328 rapelje's narrative. 

females, at seeing a person in a different dress 
from theirs, as we should be at meeting a savage 
in the wilderness of America. They, however, 
are very craving, and jealous of each other ; and 
the old woman of my hut could not bear to see 
me give to any of the Arabs but her own family ; 
and I had like to have made great quarrels in the 
Arab wigwam by my presents. 

Wednesday, May 8th. — I slept last night on 
the sand, in the Arab tent, surrounded by the wild 
Bedouins, but was easy in my mind as if I had 
slept in my own house. By travelling, it seems, 
I had got rid of fear ; and, as I found them well 
disposed during the day, I therefore had confi- 
dence in them at night ; but I was tormented 
with fleas without number, during the whole 
night ; but it was cool enough ; the wind, indeed, 
at intervals, blew chilly, and cold ; but in the day, 
the sun shone suffocatingly hot, and flies, as well 
as the before named insects, were numerous, and, 
I believe, came to us as plagues of Egypt ; and, 
indeed, plagues they were. Those who have not 
seen Egypt can have no conception of their num- 
bers, or the torture they can inflict. I remained 
all day at the Arab village, had some chickens 
cooked, made some soup, and ate a tolerable din- 
ner, of three chickens, distributing to the male 
bystanders bread, and chickens to the women, 

Thursday, May 9th. — I waited, as I said 
before, contented at the Arabs' tent ; and cam- 



rapelje's narrative. 329 

els continued to come all day to join the cara- 
van, 

Friday, May 10th. — At six in the evening, the 
Arabs began to load the camels of the great cara- 
van, which was done in about an hour. This scene 
beggared all description. There were tents and 
marquees, and palanquins, and Turks, and Greeks, 
and Americans, and Arabs, with all their different 
casts ; with turbans, cloaks, and sashes of all 
colors and sizes; men, women and children, all 
preparing. At last I got my provisions in a bas- 
ket on one side, and my portmanteau on the other 
side, fastened with cords to the camel, my mattress 
on the top of his back ; they made the camels get 
up and lie down at pleasure, and all lie down 
while loading them, their legs bent under ; as soon 
as my mattress was on his back, I sat upon the top. 
They contrived the saddling and loading in such a 
way, as the hump on his back came just before 
where I sat, which could not be seen when he 
was loaded. Thus mounted, he got up as it 
were, to me, like a mountain rising under me ; 
however, I soon contrived to regulate myself to his 
motions; and the sight was now singular. Here 
were proceeding together a motley group of men, 
mounted on camels, with some on horses, there 
being a guard of about twenty horsemen. The 
women and children, only about a dozen, being 
one, or two, or three harems of the gentlemen, 
were mostly in their palanquins, with some few on 
42 



330 rapelje's narrative. 

the tops of the camels' backs, and others between 
the camels, one going before and the other behind, 
and the palanquin on two poles. Here was a sight 
of about three hundred camels, some with their 
loads and riders, and some without riders ; the 
camel drivers running along side on foot ; the 
guards generally on horseback, with a few mount- 
ed on asses. All these together made a most curi- 
ous scene. The sun was just setting, and, after 
the oppressive heat of the day, this hour was 
delightful and pleasant. I suppose all together in 
the caravan, with jackasses, mules, horses, and 
men running on foot, there must have been at least 
five hundred. 

Saturday, May 11th. — I travelled all night on 
the camel, a motion, as soon as one becom.es used 
to it, which is not very uneasy. About an hour after 
sunrise, the caravan stopped, unloaded the camels, 
and rested during the heat of the day, in the sandy 
plain or desert. They pitched their marquees 
and tents, those who had them ; others put up 
blankets, &c., to screen them from the piercing, 
arid effects of the hot sun. I fixed my blanket, 
and screened myself by putting up my portman- 
teau on its end. I also borrowed a short pole, one 
end of which I fixed in the sand, and strapped the 
other to the upper part of the portmanteau, and to 
the top of this upright pole, I fastened one end of 
a cord, and the other end to a couple of baskets I 
had set on one another, and over it put my blanket, 



rapelje's narrative. 331 

which formed me in miniature my sheltering tent. 
It answered while I lay or sat mider it, to keep off 
the dreadful piercing heat, which was very great. 
In the corners of the blanket I laid stones to keep 
it out. I ate my provisions of bread, cheese, and 
some Bologna sausages ; and had some limes and 
oranges, which I found very grateful by squeezing 
them in water, and adding some sugar. Towards 
sunset the camels were again loaded, which was a 
scene of calling and bellowing, and the Mahome- 
tans praying and the Arabs running to and fro, 
like moving on a May day in New-York, all in an 
uproar ; in fact, the latter scene was not equal to 
it. We got on again, mounted, and each with his 
jar of water hanging by the side of his camel. 
The heat was so great as to create such a sad 
thirst, that every little while I found I wanted 
water to quench it. 

Sunday, May 12th. — I rode all last night and 
encamped again all this day as yesterday. There 
was a respectable old gentleman, a Turk, who 
had a large marquee, who permitted me to remain 
under it during the day; at night we marched 
again. The night was cool and pleasant, with a 
fresh wind near morning. 

Monday, May 13th. — Last night was the third 
night's march from Cairo. Just after daylight, we 
stopped a i^ew miles from Suez, at a watering- 
place, where the camels drank. I walked around 
the well to look for a good fountain of water, being 



332 rapelje's narrative. 

only a few paces out of sight of the caravan, two 
Arab Mameluke horseraen guards to our caravan, 
belonging to the Governor of Egypt, whom I did 
not suspect, but when just passing them, they 
stepped towards me, making signs that I must 
give them some money, or they would shoot me, 
both pointing their muskets cocked, at my body. 
I endeavored to make them understand I had no 
money; they felt my pockets, and one grasping 
my surtout coat pocket, the other thrust in his 
hand, and took all the money I had about me, 
being three silver dollars, and then let me go. As 
soon as I came to the caravan, I gave information 
to the governor of Mecca, but when I returned 
with some other guards, which he ordered me, 
they changed the disposition of their dresses 
in an instant, and I could not swear to them. 
These Arabs are the greatest thieves on earth, 
and I thought myself fortunate in getting off so 
well. They are never satisfied, give them what you 
will. After paying them more than what is agreed 
for, they still crave more. I was to pay thirty- 
five piastres for the passage on the camel to Suez 
from Cairo, about eighty miles ; yet I gave more, 
but the owner was not content. Twelve piastres 
and a half is a dollar. At this watering-place, I 
had a fine view of the Red Sea and the town of 
Suez ; and proceeding on, I saw on the right, to 
the south, the mountain Itcha ; it was on the other 
side ; and to the south of it, the children of Israel 



rapelje's narrative. 333 

passed the Red Sea ; the place where Pharaoh and 
his host were lost. The sea, m some places there, 
is said to be quite shallow at low water, when it 
was likely they passed through, hut Pharaoh fol- 
lowing, the tide came in, and overflowed them 
before they got over. I got to Suez at about ten, 
and put up at a Mr. Nicoli's, a Greek, who spoke a 
little English, and acted as English Consul there. 
The houses are miserable beyond description, with 
floors as if rooted up by hogs ; the walls are of 
dirt, and every thing is in a forlorn situation. I 
went with him to the Governor's and delivered my 
passport. In the afternoon I took a walk along 
the Red Sea shore, and there saw a number of 
very curious shells ; a very large scolloped oyster 
shell is found there, and an abundance and 
variety of shell and other fish ; the weather is 
very hot. 

Tuesday, May 14th. — Suez is a miserable 
place, inhabited principally by Egyptian Arabs. 
This day I got myself an Arab dress. The heat 
of the day was quite oppressive ; the night quite 
cool. My horrid room fronted on the Red Sea. 
They bring all the fresh water they drink in the 
town, in boats ashore here, opposite my window ; 
they get it from the opposite shore about three or 
four miles off*. It is all brought in skins, and is 
very brackish ; these skins make it worse. 

Wednesday, May 15th. — I wore my Arab's 
dress for preservation, as they insult and think it 



334 rapelje's narrative. 

no crime to rob and murder any one in the dress 
of a Frank. I wrote a letter to Mrs. Rapelje, and 
sent it on to the care of Mr. Salt, at Cairo ; also 
wrote a letter to Messrs. Gliddon, Brothers & Co., 
of Alexandria, to w^hom I had a letter of credit 
to send me to Jaffa, as Mr. Lebaratore, to whom 
he gave me one at Cairo, would not give me more 
than fifty dollars, pretending the letter was not 
made correct. There was a Dr. Meno, who came 
on by the caravan from Italy; and I found him very 
civil. I also met here a German traveller, making 
astronomical observations, by the name of Rus- 
sell, who had many valuable instruments. There 
are many negroes and slaves here; and they have 
a song for every thing they work at. The wea- 
ther is very hot. 

Thursday, May 16th. — I prepared provision 
for my journey to Jerusalem. Meat could scarcely 
be obtained ; only bread, milk, rice, and a little 
lamb, with some fish. It is the most miserable 
place I ever was at in ray life. 

Saturday, May 18th. — I walked along the Red 
Sea to pick up shells ; and those I found were 
plenty, and of various shapes and kinds, but their 
fish having been washed up, with sand and stones 
constantly driving over them, they were all broken 
and had lost their colors. 

Sunday, May 19th. — At ten in the morning, I 
went over across the Red Sea in a boat, to go to 
Jerusalem, by the way of Gaza, on camels. I 



rapelje's narrative. 335 

agreed "vvith Selim, the camel driver, to take me 
and my baggage, and find me water, for four dol- 
lars. It is, as they call it, eight days' march 
through or over the desert, above two hundred and 
forty miles to Gaza, and about three hundred to 
Jerusalem from Suez. The Red Sea at Suez is 
very narrow, and quite shallow, not a mile across. 
They poled the boat across the whole way. About 
a dozen small vessels lay at Suez, which, I sup- 
pose, traded up and down the Red Sea. After 
staying on my mattress, under my blanket, rigged 
up, till sunset, I started with Selim, mounted on 
my camel. There were only three other camels, 
and all Bedouin, or wild Arabs, as drivers ; how- 
ever, as the merchant, Mr. Michael Manuli, with 
whom I staid, a Greek, recommended him as an 
old driver, one knowing the roads, I feared not, 
and rode on till midnight, when I pitched my 
tent, such as it was, and slept till morning. 

Monday, May 20th. — I mounted the camel at 
daylight, and rode on through a desert till about 
nine o'clock, stopping during the heat of the day. 
In the afternoons and nights, that is, from about 
four, p. M., till ten in the morning, the air is in the 
desert, and on the borders of the sea, most delight- 
fully pleasant; indeed, that part of the night near 
morning, I found quite cold. There were no flics 
there ; but we were constantly fanned with re- 
freshing breezes, not too hot nor too cold ; and, 
even during the great heat of the sun in the day, 



336 rapelje's narrative. 

the same refreshing breezes often passed over us. 
As soon as vv^e pitched our tents for the day, Selim 
mixed up a large flat cake of flour, like rye meal, 
and baked it on the ashes, throwing coals over it ; 
then, when done, crumbled it to pieces on the in- 
side of a goat's skin, undressed, being the same the 
dough was made in. He put these to a little water, 
and something like butter, made savory ; he also 
poured on it, out of a small goat's skin, that which 
looked like cream, but it must have been a sub- 
stance from the date or palm tree, and mixing all 
together quickly, begged me to come and eat be- 
fore it should grow cold, for it was very good, as 
he called it tieb, tieb. As I had provisions of all 
kinds, my stomach seemed to turn at it ; but on 
his frequent solicitations, saying, at the same time, 
tieb, tieb, tieb, in Arabic, meaning, good, good, 
good, I accordingly tasted it, and found it so good 
that I ate heartily with Selim, each diving to the 
bottom of the goat's skin, that lay on the ground, 
with our fingers. We took our meal sitting cross- 
legged on the sand. The Arabs use their hands 
for eating all things, not knowing any thing of 
knives or forks ; but they had wooden spoons. This 
goat's skin must have been called the kneading 
troughs of the Israelites. 

Tuesday, May 21st. — We recommenced our 
journey again at daylight, and came to another 
pool, or pit of water, filled the skins, and went on 
till about eleven o'clock, then pitched our tents, 



rapelje's narrative. 337 

got breakfast, ate of my hard boiled eggs, cakes, 
preserved dates, and cheese ; had also Bologna 
sausages, with hot coffee, which the Arabs are 
always very fond of, and it is made on the spot, 
kindling up a fire, and burning the Mocha coffee 
in an iron ladle, which they always travel with, 
and grind it w4th the end of a long stick, in a stone 
or earthen mortar, and then boil it, drinking it hot 
and strong out of very small cups. After break- 
fast we set out again, and meeting several cara- 
vans of camels, two or three caravans generally 
each day. Through the valleys, besides the tri- 
fling mounds, there are hills of sand, and which, 
in countries generally level, would be called 
mountains of earth. The whole surface seems 
crumbling, or rotten. These rocks are from the 
whiteness and softness of chalk, to the hardness of 
flint, or granite. The surface, for miles and miles, 
is covered with stones of all sizes, shapes, and 
descriptions ; but all appeared as if having been 
burned by a great heat, and battered to pieces ; 
for I never saw one stone, ever so small or large, 
throughout the desert, without a rent, or crack, 
or some pieces broken off. I saw some flocks 
of birds like pigeons. There was a variety of 
grass, shrubs, and plants, sufiicient for feeding the 
camels, and these in plenty in the valleys. We 
put up for the night in the Valley of the Shadow of 
Dust. At times we could scarcely see ten yards 
before us ; it often darkening the sun ; and with 
43 



338 rapelje's narrative. 

difficulty I kept it out of my mouth and eyes. 
The cloud of dust abated an hour or two after 
sunset. This was the third night I slept on the 
sand, with nothing over me but my blanket, Arab's 
frock, and a thick great coat. This night there 
was no dew, but considerable the night before. 

Wednesday, May 22d. — We mounted our 
camels, again at daylight, and travelled or march- 
ed all day through the wilderness, constantly 
interspersed with hills or valleys. The surface was 
generally hard, and the travelling good; and in 
no part so rough but that a carriage could have 
got over ; some places, to be sure, w^ould have 
been difficult, but by going slow, might easily have 
been passed. In some places the road was excel- 
lent, the sand-hills not higher than about twenty 
feet. We encamped at an hour before sunset, got 
some coffee and refreshment, and mounted again 
before dark, and marched through the desert till 
about one in the morning, when we encamped and 
slept. It was a new moon, but a fine star-light 
night ; and I believe the drivers generally tell 
their courses by the stars. 

Thursday, May 23d. — I found much dew had 
fallen last night, as my blanket over me was quite 
wet. I mounted my camel again at daylight, and 
travelled till about eleven, when we encamped on 
the sand. I fixed my blanket as a substitute for a 
tent by the side of a small bush; and on this occa- 
sion, with advantage, as it was completely dried 



rapelje's narrative. 339 

by the sun. We took some refreshment, and rest- 
ed some hours. A delightful breeze from the 
northward cooled and cheered us on this arid 
desert. We moved on, passing a large level plain 
and several sand-hills, and found it quite hot 
during the day, for five or six hours; then very 
cool, and I could bear as much clothing as in win- 
ter. For the first time, I saw to day, over the 
sand, swarms of grasshoppers, with which the 
bushes were covered. They had curious green 
bodies and yellow legs and heads, and a broad 
black border round their necks, legs, and tails ; 
their shoulders also were tinged with black. They 
could only hop, as their wings were but just 
coming out ; they will turn to locusts as men- 
tioned as one of the pests of Egypt. They were 
of all sizes, up to the size of my little finger. We 
came to an encampment of these wandering or 
Bedouin Arabs, and settled there at sunset, where 
I got my supper and rested till morning. 

Friday, May 24th. — I stayed this day, near the 
Arab tents, and got some goats' milk. They had 
large flocks of goats, and very fine ones, as also 
sheep which feed on the bushes in the desert. I 
was much tormented by the immense swarms of 
grasshoppers, or locusts ; no sooner did I lie down 
on my mattress, on the sand, and got in a doze or 
sleep, than they covered me, crawling over, and 
biting my fingers so as to wake me, and prevent 
my sleeping ; I saw but few flies. Sometliing 



340 rapelje's narrative. 

prevented my camel driver from going on ; wheth- 
er he had his harems here among these tents, or 
whether his excuse of his camel's being sick, was 
true, or their wanting rest and food, I know not ; 
however, I was forced to hear it patiently. I could 
not amuse myself by writing, for the grasshoppers 
were so thick about my hands and fingers, and 
furthermore, my fingers were sore from one of the 
other pests of the desert, boils or blains, and my 
face was very sore ; being harassed by fleas, bugs, 
and lice, from the camel's saddles, or their drivers. 
These were pests indeed. When he stopped and 
put me down on the sand of the desert and desired 
me to stay there, he laid down by my side his 
sabre, two pistols, dirk, and carbine, and left me 
from ten one morning, till the evening of the next 
day. In the morning I gathered up courage, and 
went to the tents about three hundred yards dis- 
tant where he was, and passed five or six of them, 
when at last I spied him out with a woman cook- 
ing Carney for him. I called him out and said to 
him he must bring me milk, which he gave me, and 
persuaded me to go back again, which I did. I 
had a dress on like a Bedouin Arab, or they might 
have put me to death. My guide told them that I 
was from the north, and could not understand or 
speak their language. My head was shaved at 
Suez, and my beard had grown for months, and 
had got quite long. 

Saturday, May 25th. — Soon after sunrise, I 



KAPELJE S NARRATIVE. 



341 



mounted my camel, and Selim and myself pro- 
ceeded on alone, he on one camel, and I on an- 
other. We saw many caravans of camels, and 
Arab horsemen, with several Arab villages, all 
tents. The Arabs are all armed with old sabres 
or swords, and old guns with no flints, but are let 
off by putting a fuse to the powder in the pan. 
We got to a pond of water about one o'clock, 
where we rested, and ate some bread and cheese, 
and a drink of the water, and made quite a hearty 
meal. There were thickets of quite sizeable trees 
in some of these low valleys, which possibly have 
been ponds, and have been filled up by the drift- 
ing sands. We passed over several steep hills of 
sand, and it was with difficulty that I stuck to the 
camel's back going down some of them, being 
almost perpendicular. We rode on again till near 
sunset, then pitched for the night. 

Sunday, May 26th. — We started just after sun- 
rise, and rode about four hours, when we stopped 
to get some refreshment, and rested three hours ; 
then proceeded on. The desert appeared not to 
have so many hills, and as if we were approaching 
the Mediterranean Sea, by the appearance of the 
clouds along the horizon in that direction ; this 
was the seventh day's journey, and we expected 
to be in Gaza to-morrow. We pitched down 
again at an hour before sunset, on a large level 
plain, where almost all the ground was cultivated 
with wheat fields. The people had been gather- 



342 rapelje's narrative. 

ing it, being in stacks. We were now about fif- 
teen or twenty miles from Gaza; I rested all night, 
with nothing but the heavens and my blanket and 
clothes to cover me, which made the seventh night 
I had slept in them ; and I began to dread the 
consequences from the wetness of my blanket in 
the morning by the heavy dews. My Arab camel 
driver, Selim, had deceived me, as he was to have 
provided me with a tent ; but I had no such thing, 
although I paid him nearly double the price, being 
four dollars, which is commonly paid from Suez to 
Gaza. We came on to a level plain of several 
miles, similar to Hempstead plains on Long Island, 
near New- York. The desert or wilderness had 
generally very little level ground, for it was in- 
terspersed with hillocks, mounds, gentle rising 
grounds, and drifting sand-heaps. In the route I 
was much annoyed by the horrid yelling sound of 
the Arab song, which in all my journeying through 
Turkey, I found indispensable with them. They 
have a song for every thing, when in the act of 
labor ; but the boat song up the Nile is more har- 
monious. 

Monday, May 27th. — I mounted my camel at 
sunrise, after a disagreeable night, having had but 
little sleep, and in a high fever, having taken a 
little wine yesterday evening. In this hot climate, 
water is the best drink ; any thing tending to in- 
flame the blood should be avoided. My blanket 
also got filled with the beards from the barley and 



rapelje's narrative. 343 

wheat when we pitched down in the fiekl from 
which they had just been gathered ; my clothes 
were ftdl of them also. However, I rode on till 
about ten o'clock ; during this time, I saw many 
flocks of very fine cattle, and sheep, and goats ; 
from the latter I got some milk, and made a hearty 
breakfast of milk and bread. We got into Gaza 
at about one o'clock. About the environs of this 
city there was much cultivation, and there were 
many fruit trees. The soil appeared good, but 
sandy. We rode along the Mediterranean sea- 
coast for several miles. Gaza is a wretched, mise- 
rable place. The room I had was a rough ground 
floor, with a mat thrown down, and my mattress 
on the top ; the room had no table, chairs, shelf, 
or the devil of any thing was there in this pen or 
den ; it could be called nothing better ; and I 
believe all their houses and rooms are in the same 
condition. It was arched, but looked as if all the 
stones were about to tumble on me. However, I 
ordered some chicken broth, which was brought 
me in the vessel it was cooked in, and with plenty 
of bread boiled in it. I sat down upon the mat, 
and ate heartily, as it was very good. The house 
of a merchant is a square yard ; on its level is one 
story, and a low story above ; all around are those 
prison-like rooms, I believe for travellers. I en- 
gaged with a camel driver to take me to Jerusa- 
lem, two days' journey, or sixty miles, for about 
three dollars, to depart on the following morning. 



344 rapelje's narrative. 

Tuesday, May 28th. — I started this morning at 
an hour after sunrise, with not any person who 
could speak English. I expected to be taken to 
Jerusalem; but, after travelling all day on a 
jackass, my baggage on another, with the driver, 
as usual, running behind, and passing large or- 
chards of olives, in the environs of Gaza, we 
put up at night, laying on the ground, at a mud 
village, of Turks and Arabs. This Gaza is the 
place where " Sampson went and took the gates 
and posts, and carried them on his shoulder to 
Hebron on the top of the hill." — Judges xvi. 3. 
And when I relate this to be the store of merchan- 
dise built upon the ruins of the building pulled 
down about the Philistines, and when I also relate 
to my Christian brethren, that at Joppa, or the 
place now called Jaffa, is the house that Joseph 
lived at, who lent the tomb at Jerusalem to have 
our Saviour deposited in, they will not credit it ; 
but a parson Wolff, who was sent out from Eng- 
land to enlighten the Arabs, Turks, and those 
eastern nations of the wilderness, to distribute 
Tracts, the Bible, and Testaments, and to endea- 
vor to bring them over to Christianity, told those 
things, and showed me the place where Na- 
bal lived at Jean d'Arc, where our vessel put in ; 
he also showed me the hill, or mount, where his 
farm was, and the very spot where he was shear- 
ing his sheep when David sent to him a friendly 
embassy for assistance ; but he refused to let him 



RAPELJE'a NARRATIVE. 345 

have any provision, and who, it vrill be recollected, 
was saved by his wife, a prudent and excellent 
woman. But the Arabs, and other nations around 
the plain, are very incredulous about these things. 
The orchards which I passed, contained very 
large, handsome olive trees, which were then iu 
blossom, llie country all the way for miles, was 
ascending and descending. Well cultivated fields 
of wheat were seen the whole way to the ancient 
Arimathea, now called Rama. At Rama in Pa- 
lestine, formerly Arimathea, Joseph died. In 
saying the fields were well cultivated, I mistook ; 
there was, indeed, great abundance of fine wheat 
then gathering, but it seemed almost to grow 
.spontaneously. At the mud village where I stop- 
ped, the Turks and Arabs were sitting on the 
ground, in front of one of their huts. Night and 
fatigue overtook me. I also rested on my mat- 
tress, in the open air, in front of this house of mud, 
which, I suppose, was dubbed a tavern ; for, after 
sundown, they had large wooden bowls brought 
and set down before them, filled with bread, mix- 
ed with some kind of oily substance ; and they all 
set to, pellmell, diving with their fingers into the 
bowl, and there were several to each bowl; and 
then they drank strong, thick cofl'ee, from small 
cups. My mule driver was a hale fellow, among 
the rest, and invited me to partake ; but I declin- 
ed, as I already had taken some of my own pro- 
visions a short time before. Here the asses were 
44 



346 rapelje's narrative. 

also fed. For this journey, they got me two asses, 
one for my baggage, the other for myself to ride. 
The driver always goes along on the longest jour- 
ney on foot, and hardly seems fatigued the whole 
way ; but the camels, asses, and mules, generally 
go no faster than a common walk. They allow 
three miles an hour, or thirty miles a day. 

Wednesday, May 29th. — We started two hours 
before sunrise, and I arrived on my donkey in Rama 
about eight o'clock, and found no person there or in 
Gaza, who could speak any English. I was either 
misunderstood or deceived, for my driver led me to 
understand I was now in Jerusalem ; but as tra- 
vellers are taken to a convent, where they took me 
to be fed, &c., I found my mistake, that I was in 
Romily, and understood I must now go to Jaffa, 
four hours' ride, to go to Jerusalem. I got break- 
fast, and started with fresh jackasses ; and when we 
arrived there, a Mr. Wolff, a missionary, who 
spoke English, told me that I must go back to 
Romily, or Rama ; and from that place it was one 
day, or ten hours' ride. I went back after dinner 
to the Armenian convent, where I supped and 
slept. 

Thursday, May 30th. — I set off this morning at 
sunrise for Jerusalem, ten hours or thirty miles 
distance, on a mule, having two drivers. A com- 
mon Jew, a young man, rode another mule. I 
was requested to take charge of him from Jaffa 
by Mr. Wolff. About Rama is some cultivation ; 



rapelje's narrative. 347 

the country is beautiful, with olive and fig trees ; 
but after about eight miles, the country is nothing 
but circular hills, and mountains of rock, towards 
Jerusalem, which seems encircled by ledges, like 
terraces. It was the most forlorn and distressed 
country I ever saw, all the way to Jerusalem ; and 
for miles, to appearance, around it, there were 
bushes, and here and there some solitary patches 
of ground cultivated, with a few fig trees. For two- 
thirds or more of the w^ay, the path was over 
hills and through the deep valleys, all rock and 
stones. The asses and mules scarcely could find 
a place for their feet. In going through the valley 
I was stopped three times by Arabs armed, called 
Bedouins, some on foot, some mounted on horses^ 
and we were obliged to give them some piastres 
to let us pass ; but as I did not understand them, I 
left it altogether to my Arab guide, or ass driver, 
to settle ; which, after a quarter of an hour's 
detention, he got off with paying a few piastres, 
although at first they demanded a great number ; 
and one of them, after passing the mountain, about 
ten miles from Jerusalem, sitting near a village 
under some fig trees, with many others, armed, and 
well dressed, with costly turbans, stopped us ', 
he demanded my passport, which he kept. He 
was a shiek, or governor of a village, in that part 
of the mountainous country. His name was Ibra- 
him Abu Agush. The passport was directed to him 
by the governor of Rama, who gave it me ; and he 



348 rapelje's narrative. 

himself could command ten thousand of those 
mountain Arabs, and was the head of those high- 
waymen, who let no one pass without paying 
them some piastres ; however, he was very civil. 
At the same time they pretended to own all the 
mountains, and valleys, and the other govern- 
ments of Rama, Jaffa, &c. The government is not 
strong enough to root up these highway robbers, 
or sanctioned plunderers, who are the dread of 
all travellers ; and are the cause why I had to 
pass in such a course to visit Jerusalem. The 
day was very hot, but we often found pools of 
water ; and in the afternoon, we arrived at the 
far-famed, holy, sacred city of Jerusalem, so noted 
in early history. The whole earth around is 
mountainous, with hills of rock, and fertile valleys, 
which were, to all appearance, volcanic. This 
once famed, and great city, is now about a mile 
around, well walled in, partly on a hill. I was 
taken to the Convent of Terra Santa of Spanish 
Monks, where I was provided with food, and a 
chamber, and was very civilly treated by the holy 
fraternity. Jerusalem contains about twenty thou- 
sand inhabitants. 

Friday, May 31st. — This morning, accompanied 
by a guide, Antonio, and a drogoman, a Turk that 
tends the convent, I proceeded around outside the 
walls of the city, and saw the Vale of Jehosaphat, 
and the others ; also Mount Sion, Mount of Olives, 
St. Mary's, and other scriptural wells^ temples, and 



rapelje's narrative. 349 

tombs of the prophets ; also where the twelve 
apostles sat, and where Judas betrayed our Sa- 
viour ; they showed me the spot where he kissed 
him. The well and pool Siloam, where our Saviour 
healed the sick, and restored sight to the blind ; 
the tomb of Zechariah, and the place where Jere- 
miah wrote his Lamentations ; also a small temple, 
the columns still handsome, hewn out of solid 
rock, elevated above the valley, and facing where 
our Saviour preached to the multitude; and the 
other remarkable places, Absalom's tomb, &c., as 
recorded in Scripture, with many patriarchal tombs 
or sepulchres, cut out of the solid rock, were shown 
to me ; also the mount, as tradition has it, where 
the Great Tempter took our Saviour to show 
him all kingdoms, and offered him the whole of 
them, if he would fall down and worship him. 
The dialogue which Milton, in his Paradise Re- 
gained, has put into the mouths of the Tempter 
and the Saviour, is not transcended, if equalled, in 
all the range of English poetry, however fashiona- 
ble it may be to decry this great work. 
Satan says — 

"Look once more, ere we leave this specular mount, 
Westward, much nearer by south-west ; behold 
Where on th' JEgean shore a city stands 
Built nobly, pure the air, and light the soil, 
Athens, the eye of Greece, mother of arts 
And eloquence, native to famous wits. 
Or hospitable, in her sweet recess. 
City, or suburban, studious walks and shades ; 
See there the olive grove of Academe, 



350 kapelje's narrative. 

Plato's retirement, where the attic bird 

Trills her thick-warbled notes the summer long ; 

There flowery hill Hymettus with the sound 

Of bees, industrious murmur oft invites 

The studious musing ; there Ilissus rolls 

His whisp'ring stream : within the walls then view 

The schools of ancient sages ; his who bred 

Great Alexander to subdue the world ; 

Lyceum there, and painted Stoa next : 

There shalt thou hear and learn the secret power 

Of harmony, in tones and numbers hit 

By voice or hand, and various-measur'd verse, 

iEolian charms and Dorian lyric odes. 

And his who gave them breath, but higher sung, 

Blind Melesignes, thence Homer call'd. 

Whose poem Phcebus challenged for his own. 

Thence what the lofty grave tragedians taught 

In chorus or iambic, teachers best 

Of moral prudence, with delight receiv'd 

In brief sententious precepts, while they treat 

Of fate, and chance, and change in human life; 

High actions, and high passions best describing, 

Thence to the famous orators repair. 

Those ancient, whose resistless eloquence 

Wielded at will that fierce democratie, 

Shook th' arsenal, and fulmin'd over Greece, 

To Macedon and Artaxerxes' throne. 

To sage philosophy next lend thine ear, 

From heaven descended to the low roof'd house 

Of Socrates; see there his tenement, 

Whom, well inspir'd, the oracle pronounced 

Wisest of men ; from whose mouth issued forth 

Mellifluous streams, that water'd all the schools 

Of Academics old and new, with those 

Sirnam'd Peripatetics, and the sect 

Epicurean, and the Stoic severe; 

These here revolve, or, as thou lik'st, at home, 

Till time mature thee to a kmgdom's weight : 

These rules will render thee a king complete 

Within thyself; much more vnth empire join' d." 

To whom our Saviour sagely thus replied : 
" Think not but that I know these things, or think 
I know them not ; not therefore am I short 
Of knowing what I ought : he who receives 
Light from above, from the fountain of light, 



kapelje's narrative. 351 

No other doctrine needs, though granted true ; 

But these are false, or Uttle else but dreams, 

Conjectures, fancies, built on nothing firm. 

The first and wisest of them all profess'd 

To know this only, that he nothing knew; 

The next to fabling fell and smooth conceits ; 

A third sort doubled all things, though plain sense ; 

Others in virtue plac'd felicity. 

But virtue join'd with riches and long life 

In corporal pleasure he, and careless ease 

The Stoic last in philosophic pride, 

By him call'd virtue ; and his virtuous man. 

Wise, perfect in himself, and all possessing, 

Equals to God, oft shames not to prefer, 

As fearing God nor man, contemning all 

Wealth, pleasure, pain or torment, death and life. 
Which, when he lists, he leaves, or boasts he can 
For all his tedious talk is but vain boast, 

Or subtle shifts conviction to evade. 

Alas, what can they teach, and not mislead, 

Ignorant of themselves, of God much more, 
And how the world began, and how man fell, 

Degraded by himself, on grace depending 7 

Much of the soul they talk, but all awry, 

And in themselves seek virtue, and to themselves 

All glory arrogate, to God give none, 

Rather accuse him under usual names. 

Fortune and fate, as one regardless quite 

Of mortal things. Who therefore seeks in theso 

True wisdom, finds her not ; or, by delusion 

Far worse, her false resemblance only meets, 

An empty cloud. However, many books. 

Wise men have said, are wearisome : who reads 

Incessantly, and to his reading brings not 

A spirit and judgment equal or superior, 

(And what he brings, what needs he elsewhere seek ?) 

Uncertain and unsettled still remains. 

Deep versed in books and shallow in himself, 

Crude or intoxicate, collecting toys. 

And trifles for choice matters, worth a sponge ; 

As children gathering pebbles on the shore. 

Or if I would delight my private hours 

With music or with poem, where so soon 
As in our native language can I find 

That solace 1 All our law and story strow'd 



352 rapelje's narrative. 

With hymns, our psalms with artful terms inscrib'd, 
Our Hebrew songs and harps in Babylon, 
That pleas'd so well our victor's ear, declare 
That rather Greece from us these arts deriv'd j 
111 imitated, while they loudest sing 
The vices of their deities, and their own, 
In fable, hymn, or song, so personating 
Their gods ridiculous, and themselves past shame. 
Remove their swelling epithets, thick laid 
As varnish on a harlot's cheek, the rest, 
Thin sown with aught of profit or delight, 
Will far be found unworthy to compare 
With Sion's songs, to all true tastes excelling. 
Where God is prais'd aright, and godlike men, 
The holiest of hohes, and his saints ; 
Such are from God inspir'd; not such from thee, 
Unless where moral virtue is express' d 
By light of nature not in all quite lost. 
Their orators thou then extoll'st, as those 
The top of eloquence; statists, indeed. 
And lovers of their country, as may seem : 
But herein to our prophets far beneath. 
As men divinely:.taught, -and better teaching 
The solid rules of civil government. 
In their majestic unaffected style, ■, 

Than all the oratory of Greece and Rome. 
In them is plainest taught, and easiest leam'd, - 
What makes a nation happy, and keeps it so ; 
What ruins kingdoms, and lays cities flat : 
These only with our law best form a king." 
So spake the Son of God. 

I then returned to the convent, got a horse for 
myself and another for my guide, Antonio. We 
journied to Bethlehem of Judea. The whole way 
was ledges and hills of rock. We passed the 
tomb of Rachel, and the Valley of Pasture or 
Shepherds. We arrived in two hours at Bethle- 
hem, the birth-place of Jesus Christ. A line tem- 
ple is erected over it to God. They showed me 
the very spot where our Saviour was born, where 



UAPELJE'a NARRATIVE. 353 

he laid with his mother in the stable, and manger ; 
also, where the three magicians sought him, and 
the remarkable spots appertaining to his birth, 
&c., &c. This is now a convent ; there are many 
windings and passages, as it were, under ground ; 
they take tapers down, and I descended many 
steps to get to the birth-place, where I remained 
an hour, the brethren giving us dinner. We re- 
turned to Jerusalem. On the road we passed the 
ruins of Rama, where Rachel was weeping for 
her children ; see the thirty-first chapter of Jere- 
miah. At four o'clock I w^ent to visit the sepul- 
chre and Mount Calvary. The fraternity of Frank 
Monks have erected long since a cathedral, tem- 
ple, or church, which incloses them. It is well 
decorated with many valuable lamps, vases, and 
sacred paintings in appropriate places, where 
each different transaction of the sufferings took 
place. I saw the spot according to tradition, 
where the cross stood«jf^It is all floored with 
inlaid marble, and has a large hole, surrounded 
by brass or gilt metal, to designate it precisely. 
This spot is not many steps above the tomb, 
six or eight. Then they took me to the tomb 
or sepulchre. I had to creep through a small 
square door, and within which they keep con- 
stantly l)urning certain lamps. They told me 
that was the place where our Saviour lay entomb- 
ed. It appeared a new covered sarchophagus of 
white marble. All was within an elegantly deco- 
45 



354 rapelje's narrative. 

rated and handsomely domed cathedral, built some 
time since. I was also taken down several steps, 
as if under ground, into arched vaults ; the arch 
was cut out of solid rock. They showed the other 
remarkable spots attending this astonishing trans- 
action for the salvation of all the world, of all 
mankind, by the death, crucifixion, &c., of Jesus 
Christ, who died even for those who crucified him ; 
for the Jew as well as the Gentile. The mind is fill- 
ed with awe and melancholy astonishment, at such 
a spectacle. This was indeed to me, a Good Fri- 
day. It is also strange, that all these cities should 
be under the control of the Turks. The cathedral 
where the sepulchre is, cannot be opened, but by 
the authority of the Turks, and all the convents 
are guarded by Turkish drogomen. This Frank 
convent has many brethren, who entertain all 
respectable visitors. I had a letter to them which 
I delivered. When I was shown the tomb of our 
Saviour, I requested to see the large stone that 
Joseph of Arimathea, (now Rama, or Romily,) 
placed before the door of the sepulchre, but they 
seemed not to know of it. In the front of the 
temple of the sepulchre, is now a square, said to be 
the justice-seat of Pilate, where he condemned 
Jesus Christ. 

Saturday, June 1st. — I breakfasted in my clois- 
ter, or room, in the convent, and started at nine 
o'clock on my jackass with my driver, Mahmoud, 
and, after travelling about twelve miles, was 



kapelje's narrative. 355 

taken prisoner again. A parcel of Arabs sitting 
under fig trees, by the road side, demanded money 
of me, I believe, to let me pass. They took my 
jackass by the halter, led him to a tree, obliged 
me to dismount, and sit under the tree, which I qui- 
etly did, till my conductor arranged matters with 
them, by giving them some money, but told me to 
sit quiet. I had been stopped on the road in the 
forlorn mount and valley twice before by these 
Arabs, Turks, and Mahometans, armed with pis- 
tols, sabres, dirks, and clubs. The place where I 
was stopped must have been near Mount Ephraim ; 
but those sat not under the palm tree of De- 
borah, as mentioned in the fifth verse of the 
fourth of Judges ; but I think must have been at 
or near the same spot, as it was on the mount be- 
tween Rama and Bethel, on the road to Jerusalem. 
Sunday, June 2d. — These Arabs are mount- 
ed on excellent horses ; one, as if rising out of the 
earth, was of a sudden across the road, stop- 
ping my slow-paced donkey ; and, after some con- 
versation with my driver, who giving him some 
piastres, I was permitted to pass. They seemed 
a banditti of licensed highwaymen, stopping all 
strangers, and demanding money, or detaining them 
as prisoners, until it is paid ; and I believe this is 
the cause why so few travellers attempt going to 
Jerusalem at present, in the disturbed state of 
affairs. An affray took place the day I arrived in 
Jerusalem, in which six Turks were put to death 



^56 rapelje's narrative. 

in a commotion between themselves. I arrived 
at six, and put up at the Franks' Convent, where 
I was treated with much civility and kindness, 
which is far superior to the Armenian Convent, 
where I stopped on my second visit. There were, 
at present, only three brethren in it, with all things 
nice and neat, and good provisions, and plenty of 
wine. The country, for half way from Rama to 
Jerusalem, is really beautiful, with much cultiva- 
tion ; and, indeed, all around Rama, for some ten 
or twelve miles distance, exhibits a fine rich inter- 
val of alluvial-like soil, bearing abundant crops 
of wheat, and affording pasture for cattle. 

Monday, June 3d. — After breakfasting at the 
Convent of Terra Santa, or of the Frank, Spa- 
niards, at Romily, Rama, or ancient Arimathea, 
I set off for Jaffa ; had a fine road all the way, and 
arrived, on my jackass, in four hours, being twelve 
miles. This is the former Joppa^ on the Mediterra- 
nean. I put up at Seignor Antonio Domiani's, a 
Frank Catholic Greek, who was English consul 
here, and entertained strangers visiting this place, 
gratis, with disinterested hospitality. I again saw a 
Mr. Joseph Wolff, a converted Jew missionary to the 
Jews, sent by Henry Drummond, Esq., the banker 
of Charing-Cross, London ; and, with Mr. Wolff, 
was invited and dined with the Russian Consul's 
lady, Madame Mostrass, and there saw her father, 
she being a Greek, of the Island of Scio. A Mr. 
Nicolo Marabuti, their drogoman, was a young man 



rapelje's narrative. 357 

from Constantinople, he was a Greek also. They 
were a pleasant and truly agreeable family; the 
consul, himself, Seignor Georgio Mostrass, was in 
Trieste, owing to the disturbed and unsettled 
state of affairs between the Russians and Turks. 
Tuesday, June 4tli. — I Avent out to-day, and 
visited the gardens of my host, Seignor Antonio 
Domiani, with his son Joseph, about thirty years 
of age, an amiable and agreeable man. In my 
journey I saw many trees, especially the pomegra- 
nate, then in blossom, and the flowers were of a 
beautiful red color, the trees not orrowina: higher 
than from ten to fifteen feet. There were also a 
number of fine white mulberry trees, that grow 
to a large size. The fruit was insipid ; but the fruit 
of the pomegranate which I had eaten last season, 
when ripe, were very large and fine. There were 
numbers of fig and olive trees, and apricots, now 
ripe, and small apples, not yet ripe, but which are 
said to be good when in their greatest perfection. 
Many vegetables, as cucumbers, grew here in 
abundance, some of which they eat raw; of other? 
they scoop out the inside, then they are filled with 
rice, and minced veal, beef, or mutton, mixed 
together, and boiled, which makes an excellent 
dish. The gardens are numerous about Jafia, and 
all irrigated by raising the Avater from the wells by 
oxen, as I hav^e before described. There were also 
excellent melons. I saw in the city of Jaffa, the 
hives of their bees, and saw the manner of taking 



358 rapelje's narrative. 

the honey. The bees work in earthen jars, with a 
small mouth, through which they go in and out ; the 
hack part of the jar is the largest, and is made as if 
a large piece was broke off, and covered temporarily 
with another piece of ajar, cemented over with 
clay, and when they want honey this piece is taken 
off, and with a long piece of iron, purposely made, 
for cutting the combs out, having separated the 
parts of their hives. As I was going to Barruth, I 
wished a little honey. The bee man was prepar- 
ed to cut it out, but the combs had been but newly 
formed, as I saw, and the cells not yet filled with 
it, so I had to do without my honey, although at 
sea, eaten with bread and butter, it is very 
healthy, being an aperient. They also cover the 
tops of their hives with two or three thick masses 
of old bags or mats. It is strange that these 
bees were so quiet, being in a small yard of about 
fifteen feet square. There were many chil- 
dren playing about, yet they made no attempt 
to sting them. They seem to be much tamer than 
our bees. The birds and pigeons are all tamer 
than those I have ever seen in England, and ac- 
customed to see in America. When w^e were 
coming up the Nile, the birds were constantly 
lighting on the rigging and deck of the boats to 
pick up crumbs. This is the place where Jonah 
went on ship-board to Tarshish. 

Wednesday, June 5th. — I went on board a 
small Turkish vessel, navigated by Greeks, going 



rapelje's narrative. 359 

to Jean de Acre, Sidon, and Barrutli. I started at 
ten o'clock in the evening, and went on slow with 
a fair but light wind, all night, with a number of 
passengers, Turks and Arabs. The vessel had 
two masts, with no cabin for passengers, so I laid 
on my mattress on deck, exposed to open air. She 
was rigged with two sprits, like a carack. We 
sailed all day along the coast of the Mediterranean, 
the w^aters along the region of Zebulun and Naph- 
thali ; there were few or no houses to be seen ; 
we passed the ruins of Cesarea, about thirty miles 
from Jaffa. Mr. Wolff, the missionary, who had his 
servant with him, was in our company. I found 
Mr. Wolff to be amiable, and a man of science, 
erudition, and literature. He had a great knowl- 
edge of sacred writ ; and one from whom I re- 
ceived much edification and information. He de- 
scribed the different places we passed, connected 
with events recorded in Scripture, appertaining to 
the locality of my travel. His conversation was 
truly interesting. At sundown the wind was 
light, and rather ahead, what there was ; we came 
to anchor about thirty miles on our way from Jaffa,' 
and we had twenty more to go yet to reach Jean 
d'Acre. We sailed within a mile or two of the 
shore all day. The weather was delightful, but 
rather warm, for a few hours, during the middle of 
the day. 

Thursday, June 6th. — We had got under 
weigh again, about ten last night, and coasted 



360 rapelje's narrative. 

along with a light wind, and arrived at Jean 
d'Acre this morning, at about seven o'clock. It 
appears to be a well fortified town, and contains 
twenty thousand inhabitants. On account of the 
war between the Pacha of this place, and the 
Pacha of Damascus, fearful of its being besieged, 
the English Consul had gone away to Barruth, and 
my fellow passengers, as well as the captain, 
thought it most advisable to stay on board, and 
not venture on shore, which we did. We sent 
ashore and got some honey, fresh bread, and other 
eatables. On the other side of the bay, that makes 
the harbor of Acre, is Mount Carmel, " where Na- 
bal sheared his sheep, and his wife, Abigail, had to 
intercede with king David for him, but his heart 
was still hardened, after his drunkenness," 1 Sam- 
uel, chap. 25th. I have mentioned this Mount 
Carmel before. The mountain appears much 
broken, and not very regular ; but with a pretty 
gentle descent to the shore. It is, also, the same 
Mount Carmel where Elijah the prophet reproved 
Ahab, when here all the Israelites gathered to- 
gether, Ahab, with the followers of Baal, where 
they each prepared sacrifices of bullocks, &c. Ahab 
could not bring fire from heaven by his offerings 
as he expected, but Elijah did. The prophets of 
Baal cried out aloud, then cutting themselves with 
knives and lancets, after their manner, like the 
dervises of the present day, who pierce their flesh 
with red-hot and cold spears, and lancets of iron 



rapelje's narrative. 361 

and steelj and no doubt their manner of worship, 
horrid as it is, came from the prophets of Baal. 
Most of the earth worshipped the God of Abra- 
ham, Isaac and Jacob, the prophets of Baal were 
all slain by the brook Kishon, as stated in the 18th 
chapter of first Kings. At noon we went ashore 
with the drogoman of the English consul, a Greek, 
a native. He got an order from the governor, or 
Pacha. I visited the bazaars ; a handsome new 
one had just been erected, well arched. Several 
manufactories of cotton are found here. The mar- 
ket affords good plumbs, or gages. I saw a fine 
large mosque of the Pacha's, and a number of sol- 
diers, with guns, marching in Indian file, going, as 
it was said, to attack Damasus, about five days' 
journey, or almost a hundred and fifty miles dis- 
tance. After being ashore about an hour, we re- 
turned to the boat in the harbor, where there 
were a few carack boats, but not one foreign vessel. 
At Jaffa, Jonah went on board a ship going to 
Tarshish. There was a mighty tempest in the sea, 
and Jonah, by lot, was cast into the sea. A great 
fish swallowed him, and, after three days and 
three nights, he was cast on dry land, and was 
three days' journey, or ninety miles from Ninevah, 
(1st and 2d chapters of Jonah) when he went and 
preached, as God commanded him, to Gaza. The 
country of Rama and Jaffa, to Cesarea, is Philistia, 
being formerly inhabited by the Philistines. The 
house where I staid, at Joppa, now occupied by 
46 



362 kapelje's narrative 

the English consul, is supposed to have been built 
on the very site of the house w^here Simon Peter 
lived, when he sav*^ the vision from heaven, &c., 
which taught him to be no respecter of persons, 
and is very near the sea-shore. 

We got under weigh at sunrise, and left 
Acre, with a light wind, which they call tra- 
mantana, or north wind. We coasted along, 
passing Sieb, a small village, close to the sea- 
shore, nine miles from Acre. We also passed 
Nacora, a small village, three miles from Sieb, and 
lay at anchor all day, after about eleven, the wind 
ahead. There was a very noisy set of vulgar 
Greek, Arab, and Turkish passengers, all filled 
with vermin. This was all on the coast of Syria. 

Friday, June 7th. — We rode at anchor all 
night, and in the morning, early, got under sail, 
with a very light wind and not very fair, coasting 
along but slowly. While at anchor yesterday 
afternoon, the captain caught two fine fish. At 
about two, this day, we arrived at a village on the 
coast, called Sur, the ancient city of Tyre, or Ty- 
rus, as mentioned in the 26th and 27th chapters 
of Ezekiel ; the desolate ruins of which once great 
city I plainly saw from the vessel. Antonio went 
ashore at Tyre, or Tyrus, to get water and provi- 
sions to go on to Sidon and Baruth. Sur, or Tyre, 
is now but a small village, close down to the bor- 
ders of the Mediterranean. The country, at a short 
distance back, in every direction from the village, 



rapelje's narrative. 363 

appeared hilly and mountainous. We remained 
at anchor during the rest of the day. The vessel, 
carack, or boat, was a miserable one. I had to 
lie on the large packages of goods, trying to make 
the mattress as level as possible ; and in the day 
time, putting up my sheets, and an old sail, to 
keep off the sun. Mr. Wolff, my fellow traveller, 
and missionary, had a Greek servant, Antonio, 
who was of Cyprus, and was a very obliging, at- 
tentive man, a good cook, honest, and prudent; 
and when he went on shore, bought eggs, bread, 
honey, apricots, butter, &c., &c. ; and laid out the 
money with much prudence. He assisted, and 
put up our awning, fixed our beds, and plied us 
during the day with refreshments, pealing and cut- 
ting apples for us, and cucumbers, and making us 
coffee, according to the custom of the Levant ; so 
that most of the day, there was a succession of 
food, or light refreshment, proper for this hot cli- 
mate. The Arabs, or Turks, drink no wine, and 
seldom any strong liquor, which custom it is ne- 
cessary to adopt, in order to keep one's self free 
from surfeit, heat, blains, boils, and fevers, which 
are so common here, and in Egypt. The water- 
jars are always near at hand, and, as I observed 
before, are made of a clay of potter's earth, having 
the peculiar property of keeping the water pure, 
sweet, and, above all, quite cool, holding about 
half a gallon, generally; they, however, are of 
all sizes, but the half gallons are of the best size, 



364 rapelje's narrative. 

as more evaporation is carried off on such a small 
surface ; and by that property it is that the water 
is kept cool. At this Tyre, my fellow traveller, 
who had before been ashore there, said it was like 
other trifling Turkish towns, with narrow streets, 
and not worth seeing ; so I did not go ashore, and 
I was also fearful that the Arabs would steal our 
things while we were absent. 

Saturday, June 8th. — We lay at anchor allnight 
in the harbor of the town of Tyre, Just before day- 
light, the wind getting favorable, but light, we got 
under sail, and coasted along towards Sidon ; the 
country still hilly, but a great part of the land from 
the shore, affords a fine picturesque scenery. In 
many places along the coast, there is a gentle ascent 
and to appearance, the ground was covered with 
cultivation. There were beautiful fields, abound- 
ing in handsome trees. We arrived at Sidon, now 
called Sida, about four o'clock. The country all 
about Sidon is really beautiful, of hill and level 
land, well cultivated. The fields were green, and 
much of the ground was covered with trees of 
beautiful foliage. Elegant gardens were to be 
seen along the shore in every direction. We went 
on shore to the French Haun, and put up for the 
night. It was the house inhabited by the French 
Consul and family ; but at this time they were all 
in the country. However, Mr. Wolff and myself 
got some soup, and meat, and beds, with a large 
plate of the finest looking and best flavored apri- 



rapelje's narrative. 365 

cots that could be imagined. The town, once the 
famed city of Sidon, is now hut small, all stone 
houses, and mostly in ruins. We saw every where 
around the shore, columns lying in the sand, whole 
and broken ; and on the shore, parts of large walls, 
arches, &c. ; also on the sea-side, all joining the 
town, for an hour's ride. Here lived Lady Stan- 
hope, an English woman, in retirement, with a 
Miss Williams. I would have visited her, but had 
not time. 

Monday, June 10th. — We were called by the 
boatmen this morning at sunrise, and left the ha- 
ven, going on board the carack boat, and set sail 
for Baruth, which is twenty miles from Sidon, and 
Sidon the same distance from Tyre ; Baruth is a 
hundred and sixty miles from Jaffa. We came to 
anchor in the afternoon at five, the wind being 
contrary. We were about ten miles from Baruth, 
and at the beginning of the chain of hills and 
mountains which just here commences to I'ise. 
This is called Mount Lebanon ; and the chain of 
mountains continues to stretch along the coast 
about eighty, ninety, or a hundred miles. 

Tuesday, June 11th. — We got under sail 
again, with a light wind, at daylight ; they w^ere 
obliged to use the oars very often ; the wind was 
variable. The sleeping at night was very uncom- 
fortable. We were exposed to the dews, without 
any covering but our great coats and blankets, 
and the mattresses were spread on the uneven 



366 rapelje's narrative, 

bales of goods. The sun, during part of the day, 
was very piercing ; we often had no awning, but 
a sheet which we put up, tying it with strings to 
the rigging, which was but a wretched shelter. 
The old sail which we had, it seems, had been 
used for some other purpose, or had disappeared 
from some other cause. We arrived at Baruth at 
eleven o'clock. I went to see the English Consul, 
Mr. Abbot, who resided there. He had a daugh- 
ter about eleven years old, and an Italian govern- 
ess for her; his wife being dead. He was very 
civil ; I took breakfast with him ; and I also went 
to dine with him. Mr. Burt and Mr. McMichael 
were residing with him as companions, and like- 
wise Mr. Chaussel, who was his secretary. Ba- 
ruth, the name as mentioned in Grecian history, is 
Berytus, but said not to be found or mentioned in 
Scripture. The country around is very pleasant, 
being interspersed with many trees, vines, gardens, 
and pleasant situations. Much good wine is made 
here, 

Wednesday, June 12th. — I stayed at home 
most of the day, but in the afternoon, near sunset, 
I took a walk with one of Mr. Abbot's clerks, a 
nephew of Sir Sidney Smith, He showed me the 
manner of winding the silk from the balls or co- 
coons, which they were now engaged in, and per- 
formed by putting the ball or cocoon in a wide- 
mouthed shallow pot, say six or eight inches deep, 
and two or three in diameter, of boiling water ; 



rapelje's narrative. 367 

under it tire is constantly kept ; directly over lour 
or six projecting wires, the end, like an unturned 
screw, for to hook, or to run the web through ; a 
man, with a small stick, and his hand alternately 
catches up the webs from off the water, which 
seems to make them separate from the balls which 
floats on the surface of the water like cork, and 
they put into the vessel as many at a time as to 
nearly cover the whole surface of the water. The 
web or threads of silk are then passed through 
the ends of these wires, which have a circular 
twist, and placed on a straight horizontal stick 
just over the water, about a foot or eighteen inches 
above it, and from thence pass over small rollers 
to a large wheel of six or eight feet in diameter, 
on which the silk is wound. This wheel is turned 
by the same man who tends the catching up of the 
silk from the water. It is afterwards wound off 
in smaller skeins. 

Thursday, June 13th. — All around and in the 
environs of this town are innumerable silk gardens, 
with a small stone building in them for the worms, 
and the gardens inclosed by stone walls, and fill- 
ed with the fig, olive, pomegranate, and mulberry 
trees to supply the food for the worms. They re- 
stlly cause the whole country about this place to 
have the most beautiful appearance, for the trees 
are covered with grape-vines, from which excellent 
wine is made. The whole country is diversified 
with hills and valleys, and these beautiful trees. 



368 rapelje's narrative. 

In fact, the appearance is that of one vast garden, 
picturesque, and enchanting in the highest degree. 
In the back ground, beyond the valley, is the great 
ridge or mountain, the ancient Lebanon. In some 
part about this town, and not at a great distance, 
is a fine mine of coal. I saw^ at Mr. Abbot's the 
consul, some fine specimens of this coal. I am 
informed that there is an excellent lead mine in 
the vicinity, and it is generally believed that silver 
and gold are to be found in the neighborhood, 
w^hich might be worked to advantage. This is 
the richest part of Syria. Wheat of a superior 
quality is raised in great abundance, and I was 
also informed that the whole of Syria could raise 
enough to supply the wants of the greater part of 
Europe ; but the government being so tyrannical 
or oppressive that there was no encouragement 
for enterprise. The pachas or governors are 
tyrants over the pachalic or country people under 
them ; and if any man is suspected of having 
much property, or should the governor or pacha 
want money, he sends to any individual and de- 
mands so many hundred or so many thousand 
piastres, as he may Avant on the occasion; and 
should he not give it, is imprisoned until it is ob- 
tained. It often happens that their beds and fur- 
niture, cattle, &c., have been sold to satisfy the 
demand from their tyrants. These poor creatures 
must literally be worse than slaves. 

Friday, June 14th. — While there, we stayed 



rapelje's narrative. 369 

with Mr. Joseph Massad, an amiable good man ; 
his family of sons and a daughter, doing whatever 
lay in their power to make the strangers staying 
at their house as comfortable as possible. It is 
the only house in Baruth that accommodates stran- 
gers, and is highly recommended by the English 
Consul, Mr. Abbot, and I would recommend it 
to all travellers. They manufacture beautiful 
shawls in this place, in one part of the town ; and 
indeed in most of the cities I passed through, I saw 
the solitary weaver at his loom, each one regula- 
ting the colors according to his fancy. These 
shawls are worn by the Turks and Arabs about 
their waists for girdles or sashes. I went on board 
a boat at five in the afternoon, which was all open 
except the forecastle, and a small place in the 
stern, which is covered over ; she had no deck, but 
had three masts, and each carrying a large latine 
sail, the centre one the largest. I agreed for four 
dollars for my passage to Alexandria, to find my 
own provisions ; a distance of about three hun- 
dred miles from the place. The high parts of the 
ridge of Mount Lebanon now bore marks of snow 
which I saw from the town, and more plainly from 
the vessel off the harbor. 

Saturday, June 15th. — The wind was so light 
that it was the same as if calm to us ; for, having 
blown hard from the other way for a day or two 
past, there was a high sea or swell, contrary to 
the way we were going, which caused our vessel 
47 



370 rapelje's narrative. 

to get out of her course. The sun was quite hot 
in the middle of the day, and nearly vertical. 
Patience, patience is the cure of all evil. I got to 
Sur or Sidon at night, and anchored in the harbor. 

Sunday, June 16th. — We stopped here at an- 
chor last night ; to-day at nine, I went on shore, 
got on an ass, and went with a conductor, who 
was one of Lady Stanhope's servants, to pay her a 
visit at about three miles distant, on Mount Seda, 
where she lived, and sent her a notice to the fol- 
lowing purport : 

" Mr. George Rapelje, with diffidence, takes 
the liberty to present his compliments to Lady 
Stanhope, and, if agreeable, will pay his respects 
to her while he stops at Seda, a few hours, on his 
passage from Baruth to Alexandria ; he thinks it 
necessary, and his duty, to give her some account 
of himself, being from the city of New-York, in 
the United States of America, of one of the oldest 
Dutch families, who went from France to Holland 
in the persecution of the Protestants, and were 
among the first settlers in that city, which was 
originally called ' New Amsterdam;' is about fifty, 
a plain man, of steady habits. 
" Sunday, 16th June, 1822. 

" P. S. Must apologize to Lady Stanhope, and 
hopes she will excuse his approaching the vicinity 
of her residence with this note himself; and, with 
the highest consideration and respect awaits her 
pleasure." 



rapelje's narrative. 371 

One of the lady's drogomen taking her the 
note, in a few minutes after, I was requested to 
come to the house, and was shown to a small ante- 
room, where a domestic, a Miss Williams, desired 
me to be seated, and informed me Lady Stanhope 
would, at two o'clock, be happy to see me. It 
was then past twelve ; her ladyship was much 
engaged in fixing dresses, (the tailor being there,) 
for her Turkish Arabs, for their great yearly festi- 
val that takes place in about a week, and begged, 
in the mean time, in the name of her ladyship, I 
would take some refreshment, and repose myself 
after my fatigue of sail and ride. I was then, by 
a jet black Arab, shown to a stone building about 
thirty paces distant ; he opened a door with a key, 
and I entered. It is curious I should say with a 
key, but their keys are different from ours, and if 
my memory serves me, it was an English key, dif- 
fering from the Turkish ones, which are only made 
of bits of wood, with short pieces of wire driven in 
different places to fit the wards of the lock. It 
was a large plain room, in Turkish manner mat- 
ted on the ground, a Turkish sofa, or Ottoman, on 
one side, and an excellent soft mattress or bed on 
a frame, where I rested alone; and, after a little 
time, a table was laid, and covered with a bottle 
of excellent wine, soup, hash, two dishes of sweet 
cakes, cheese, bread, and a large dish of delight- 
fully fine apricots ; and I assuredly made a grateful 
and hearty repast, and then reposed near an hour, 



372 rapelje's narrative. 

when I walked down, and was shown in to her 
ladyship, she sitting on a sofa that went round 
three sides of the large room, matted and furnished 
after the Turkish mode, herself clad in the Turk- 
ish male attire, an elegant large camel's hair 
shawl, from cashmere of various colors, put round 
her head, forming a beautiful Turkish dark colored 
turban. I think she wore a dark olive cloth, em- 
broideredy round-about jacket, with large and 
long sleeves, and underneath this I saw the 
sleeves of a silk vest, red and white ; she showed 
me the sleeves of her chemise on her wrists, made 
of silk gauze, and over all this was thrown a large 
white cotton mantle manufactured in the country, 
with a ball and fringe at the corners. She wore 
buskins or half-boots, placed in slippers without 
heels, of yellow morocco, all after the Turkish cos- 
tume. She sat with feet and legs upon the wide 
sofa in one corner ; I sat on a seat near her on the 
same ; she had a battle-ax lying on the sofa be- 
side her, in this shape. 




Her manner and conversation were so pleasant 
and interesting and sensible, that I missed noti- 
cing several parts of her dress, particularly her 
neck ; but I think she had not any thing around it ; 



rapelje's narrative. 373 

only iu the Turkish manner, had one button on 
the robe at the neck ; they, it seems, disdain any 
thing about the neck. About her waist, I did 
not recollect whether a Turkish girdle, or sash, or 
not ; however, the tout ensemble looked very well, 
she much became the dress. She was tall, of a 
delicate, pale complexion, and fine, expressive pre- 
sence. She showed me the different fabrics of 
embroidered dresses for herself and domestics, and 
made me accept a whole piece, being a beautiful 
silk and gold pattern ; and she modestly, in an ele- 
gant, lady-like manner, said, " This gay, fanciful 
pattern would make some young miss a neat dress." 
I reluctantly accepted it, being a perfect stranger, 
saying, I had now no compliment to make to her 
ladyship as a suitable return for this mark of favor 
and attention ; but she insisted on my taking it. 
The manner of giving is more than the gift itself, 
which was in this instance verified. She also gave 
me small patterns of many others of the manufac- 
tures of silk, and embroidered gold and silk, and 
cotton and silk, to see if any would answer in 
America, in case a commerce should be established 
between Syria and New- York, observing that fur 
and tiger skins would answer their market, as also 
leather, and some kind of articles, such as stewing 
pans, short-handled pails, tubs, pipes, and those 
instruments that strike fire by percussion, and 
knives and forks, &c., and requested me to see a 



374 



Jew Turk at Gibraltar, named Ibrahim Cordaza, 
who would tell me what would best answer the 
trade, and likewise Hady Mahomet, consul at 
Tunis, who was likely to be at Gibraltar. I gave 
her the names of Le Roy & Bayard, merchants in 
New-York, she requesting the name of a respec- 
table house there. She showed me two beautiful 
Arabian horses, one a large bay mare, with a re- 
markable back, the bones of the back being singu- 
lar, the hoUowest I ever saw. She said it was a 
great curiosity, being the back of a mare with two 
bones, on which the Messiah was to come. The 
other, a smaller, light gray colored mare, on which 
she occasionally rode. The time passed so quick- 
ly with this superior and interesting lady, that it 
was only an hour before sunset when I departed ; 
she bidding me an affectionate farewell, giving 
me her hand, and wishing me a safe and speedy 
return to my wife and country. I considered the 
before-stated visit a great favor, her ladyship being 
recluse and retired, not wishing to see any visitors, 
especially Englishmen, to whom she appeared to 
have a great dislike, and seemed to hint she would 
not like me to encourage any one coming to that 
part of the country to visit her. This was done in 
a delicate manner. She was much esteemed and 
beloved by the Turks and Arabs in this country, 
and I have understood they wished to make her 
queen of several pachalics. She had great influ- 



rapelje's narrative. 375 

ence in this part of the country, and if ever any 
trade is established with that country, through her 
interest, goods and merchandize can be had with 
better advantage than by any other way. Having 
heard so much of this lady through the Turkish 
dominions, as to her peculiarities and singulari- 
ties, I was induced to make the attempt to visit 
her, and was so highly repaid by her interesting, 
friendly, and hospitable treatment, and superior 
conversation, that I overstaid my time for the 
Turkish vessel's sailing, and when I returned to 
Seda, or Sidon, she had gone to Tyre, about 
twenty-seven miles. I instantly chartered an 
open boat, a carack, with one man, who navigated 
her with a latine sail and jib, and luckily with a 
fair wind set sail about sunset, and found my ves- 
sel in the harbor of Tyre, where we got about two 
hours before day. 

Tyre harbor : in the ruins of Seda, as well 
as those of this place, are numbers of pillars of 
granite, to appearance piled crosswise one on 
another, like the logs of a dock, several feet in 
height, making the quay or strand to keep the 
sand up. I went on shore at this ancient city, 
and saw ruins around the shore of the harbor on 
all sides, parts of broken walls, broken pillars, 
and columns lying down, and literally, in appear- 
ance, rubbed and washed by the water of the sea, 
to half their former size. I got some milk and 
bread for breakfast, with apricots, that were in 



376 rapelje's narrative. 

great abundance. The vessel remained in this 
harbor at anchor, taking in a large cargo of char- 
coal and liquorice root, and filling up the place 
my bed was in, so that I could scarcely see, and it 
was very hot. I went on board in the afternoon 
and took the little after-cabin, which was very 
oppressive. 

Monday, June 17th. — I again went ashore, and 
got a Greek, of whom there were many there, 
being the same at whose house I ate yesterday, to 
buy me some mutton, and had some mutton chops 
broiled, and made a hearty breakfast. I had some 
soup made of mutton for dinner. I saw about fifty 
Turkish horsemen come into Tyre ; there was 
much alarm with the Greeks ; but what was the 
news or politics of the day, I could not know, not 
finding any person I could understand. I knew 
a little Italian, which one or two spoke here, 
but badly. In the evening I went on board, and 
had quite a quarrel with the captain, his father 
and brother having now thrown my movables 
quite out of my cabin ; but I persevered, and in- 
sisted on having the little hole of an after-cabin, 
which, after my threatenings to inform the Pa- 
cha and English consul at Alexandria, they gave 
me, and put my things into it. 

Wednesday, June 19th. — The Turkish vessel 
remained here all day, taking in more loading. I 
went on shore, and here, as well as at some other 
Turkish and Arab towns and villages, they will 



rapelje's narrative. 377 

have it that the English are all physicians, and put 
out their hands and arms for me to feel their pulses, 
and nothing would persuade them that I was not 
a physician. It was a miserable place to get any 
accommodation, either in eating or a room to sit 
in. This was a great trial, but I found I must put 
up with it ; the women, as well as the men, 
coming to me for advice, and letting me see their 
arms and hands, and even breasts, while hiding 
their faces very scrupulously. I obtained a few 
seeds of their cucumbers and melons ; the kind 
they showed me had a soft skin, and the same 
they scoop out, and fill with meat and rice, and 
then boil them. The other kind of cucumbers 
they slice and eat as we do, dressed with pepper, 
salt, vinegar, and oil. This kind has a skin some- 
what harder ; they differ in shape. The melons 
were not yet ripe, so I could not judge of them, 
but concluded they were fine from the climate and 
soil. I went on board in the evening to sleep. 

Thursday, June 20th. — The vessel being in the 
harbor all day, I went again on shore at twelve 
o'clock, and there I remained till evening. I could 
not understand their Arabic, and no one spoke 
English ; but somehow or other, made myself 
understood for my wants, and got on with the bet- 
ter sort of Turks very well ; but the lower class 
treated me with every indignity and insult, and 
unceremoniously called me a Christian dog. The 
weather was quite hot during the middle of the 
48 



378 

day ; there was no rain, but considerable dew. 
In the evening I returned on board. 

Friday, June 21st. — This was the fifth day the 
vessel had been in this harbor, and my patience 
required the power of Job, who, no doubt, had 
been here, and whom I endeavored to imitate. I 
believe they would have sailed to-day, but the 
wind was direct against us. The Turks had a 
long fast of thirty odd days ; this was the last, or 
festival ; and they eat now during daylight, but 
during their fasts, which they kept with much ex- 
actness, they, it seems, would not eat, drink, or 
smoke, between sunrise and sunset ; but rest and 
sleep. The moment the sun disappears, they all 
set to, having their food already prepared, and 
make several meals during the nights of their 
fasts. They always take coffee after their meals ; 
I mean even the commonest. All the boatmen 
must have their two or three small cups of very 
strong black coffee, which they drink without 
milk or sugar. This coffee is of the best kind, 
mostly from Mocha, which they parch and grind 
just for once using, thinking it would be spoiled if 
burnt and ground beforehand. They are truly 
epicures in many things in their way. They then 
have all their long pipes, the bowls very large, of 
red clay, and tubes of perforated wood an inch 
thick ; they have mostly the bark on, and look 
like birch wood ; and commonly, and indeed most 
generally, an amber mouth-piece quite large. 



rapelje's narrative. 379 

They use no chairs nor tables ; they use their fin- 
gers ill eating, and for weeks I have made out in 
the same way, and writing with my book on my 
mattress, or on my knee ; they in all their writings 
use their desk, and write from right to left, and 
not as we do, moving our hands, but their hands 
remain in one position fixed ; they move or slide 
the paper along under their pens and fingers, with 
the left hand, in which they commonly hold the 
paper or writing-book. They are sober people, 
seldom taking any strong drink, 

Saturday, June 22d. — We were all day at an- 
chor the sixth day; the vessel could not go without 
a fair wind, which we have not yet had. These 
Turks are very cleanly in some things, and also 
very filthy in others; they wash several times a 
day, always before and after their meals, and be- 
fore they pray, which they do about five times a 
day. They wear no stockings, only red morocco 
slippers, and they wash their legs, feet, face, head, 
hands, and arms, but are always filled with fleas 
and vermin. They shift their clothes but sel- 
dom. Just at sunset they got up two anchors, 
but did not sail till daylight, and then shaped 
their course with a light wind for Alexandria, or 
Scanderia, as the Turks call it. 

Sunday, June 23d. — We sailed with a tolerable 
breeze all day, the wind not quite, but nearly 
right ahead ; we were off shore, and drifted her so 
as to get out of sight of land ; she nearly, how- 



380 rapelje's narrative. 

ever, laid her course last night. A number of 
Turkish passengers came on board from Tyre. 

Monday, June 24th. — We sailed slowly all day, 
not directly to our port, because the wind was 
contrary and light, but beating and tacking about, 
and much time was spent in gaining a short dis- 
tance on our course. We saw a brig also beating 
to windward in the afternoon ; the weather con- 
tinued pleasant ; not quite so hot at sea as on shore. 
This sea along the coast of Syria would answer 
extremely well for a steamboat; the sea not often 
very high, and plenty of harbors all along the 
coast. I saw quantities of charcoal and wood at 
Tyre and other ports, for fuel. 

Tuesday, June 25th. — We sailed, tacking about 
and beating to windward all day ; and in sight of 
the Island of Cyprus to the westward and north- 
ward ; it appeared high land towards the middle 
of it ; a fine breeze part of the day, but contrary ; 
the vessel making but little progress on her des- 
tined course. 

The Isle of Cyprus seemed quite familiar to me, 
although I had no opportunity to examine it, as I 
had so often attended to the representation of that 
splendid tragedy of Othello, the scene of a great 
portion of which is laid in this Cyprus. " Heaven 
bless the Isle of Cyprus and our noble general, 
Othello." There is no Desdemonas here now; all 
are gone. It looks now unlike a place of so much 
consequence as it once was, when the Venetians 



rapelje's narrative. 381 

were straining every nerve to keep the Turks from 
coming farther into Europe. Cyprus has long 
since been frightened " from her propriety." There 
was no soldier there who dared say, 

" If once I stir, 

Or do but lift this arm, the rest of you 
Shall sink in my rebuke." 

The Isle had more lagos in it than Cassios. The 
malignant, the envious, the deceitful often swarm, 
where there are but few confiding, honest men. 

Our love for Shakspeare increases the more 
we read him. Without travelling out of England, 
he was acquainted with all countries, and he made 
every city subservient to his purposes. Without 
ever having seen much of mankind, he knew every 
thing of human nature. Wherever man may roam, 
there he will find that the genius of Shakspeare 
has been before him to cull every thing peculiar 
and valuable. He seems to have been taken upon 
Pisgah, and shown not only the land of Canaan, 
but those of the whole earth, and the mastery of 
them was given to him without checks or ba- 
lances. 

Wednesday, June 26th. — We sailed along the 
Island of Cyprus all the morning, and anchored at 
twelve, opposite the west part or point of it; the 
wind being contrary, we remained at anchor all 
day and during the night. 

Thursday, June 27th. — We set sail early in 
the morning, the wind being more favorable, but 



382 rapelje's narrative, 

it soon turned against us, we kept beating all day, 
the wind westerly. The Island of Cyprus, as we 
sailed along it, was on the right or rather star- 
board quarter. The land appeared broken and 
hilly; I have heard the Cyprus wine was good. 
We made but little progress this day. 

Friday, June 28th. — We sailed all day with a 
contrary wind. We steered by a compass, but 
had no chart or quadrant to know where the ship 
exactly was ; however, it is always at this sea- 
son fair weather, and we could see the sun, and 
stars, and planets, by which they shaped their 
course. 

Saturday, June 29th. — We had a fair wind, and 
got on from about three to five miles an hour, and 
expected to see Pompey's Pillar at Alexandria, on 
the next day, as it is the first object we see on 
making Alexandria harbor. This made two 
weeks and one day since I came on board this 
Turkish vessel. 

Sunday, June 30th. — We had a fair wind all 
last night, and with the continuance of the breeze, 
arrived to-day at Alexandria, by about twelve 
o'clock. I put up at the Maltese Hotel. Here, as 
well as in all other Turkish towns, I was obliged 
to use my mattress and bedding. I went immedi- 
ately to Mr. Gliddon. He was just at dinner, and 
made me partake ; then to Mr. Lee, the English 
Consul. I delivered a package of letters from Mr. 
Abbot, Consul at Baruth. He sent immediately 



rapelje's naurative. 383 

for a captain of a Maltese brig, having cleared out 
for Malta, the first and best going there, in which 
he engaged a passage for me. I was to pay forty 
dollars, and he to find me in all things, and also to 
remain on board and perform my quarantine, inclu- 
ded in the forty dollars, having expressed my 
great desire to get on as soon as possible to Eng- 
land, to which Malta is in the direct route. The 
English have really been very civil to me, kind 
and attentive to all my wishes ; for which I must 
request in this public manner, they would accept 
my most cordial and warmest thanks and grati- 
tude. They are what I have always thought and 
found them to be, the most noble, renowned, brave, 
and high nation on the face of the earth. If I 
have ever spoken harshly of them, it has been 
wiien some haughty individual has been rude to 
me. This is natural, and I shall make no further 
apology for it. 

Monday, July 1st. — I went on board to look at 
the brig this morning at six o'clock. She was a 
fine large brig, called Tartaro, with a good cabin, 
and pleasant in appearance; the captain, Seig- 
nor Cossaco, spoke Italian, but the mate spoke 
English ; and the brig was under English colors, 
I bought some small red beads, six strings, made 
at Mecca, of the stones of the date fruit, and color- 
ed with it ; also four strings of sandal-wood beads, 
highly scented; also two strings of mother-of- 
pearl beads, and two round pearl shells, engraved, 



384 rapelje's narrative. 

and colored, all from Mecca. I was so tired of 
my passage in this uncomfortable Turkish boat, 
I did not go out but little during the morning after 
my return from viewing my brig. She waited 
only for a wind to sail. 

Tuesday, July 2d. — I got my passport signed 
by Mr. Lee, and a letter from Messrs. Gliddon & 
Brothers, saying to Messrs. James Bell & Co., of 
Malta, there remained now due to me four hun- 
dred and fifty-one scudes. I saw at Mr. Gliddon's 
a Mr. Mieno, his clerk ; and this morning, Mr. 
Winch, from India, paid me a visit; he was going to 
Malta in the same ship. 

Wednesday, July 3d. — I sent a letter dated 
yesterday, by way of Leghorn, to Mrs. Rapelje, 
New- York ; waiting still to-day for a fair wind. 
The trade to this place increases fast. Within 
nine weeks since I left it, I perceived the difference 
in its favor. Water and muskmelons are plenty, 
as also grapes in market, just beginning to ripen. 
They all came from the south, from up the Nile, 
from Cairo, &c. 

Thursday, July 4th. — The wind contrary; I 
paid Mr. Lee, the British consul, a visit, and bor- 
rowed of him Sir Robert Wilson's Account of the 
History of Abecrombie's Expedition and Campaign 
m Egypt ; also the Arabian Nights' Entertain- 
ments. 

Friday, July 5th. — Amused myself with read- 
ing Wilson's account of the Expedition to Egypt, 



rapelje's narrative. 385 

and Arabian Nights, the wind unfavorable to sail. 
These tales of Arabian origin are wonderful per- 
formances ; they enchant all ages ; the old man is 
as much delighted with them as the child. These 
entertaining stories were collected together by the 
Caliph Haraun Al Raschid, in the ninth century ; 
many others are said to have been written since. 
They were, however, a sealed book to Europeans 
for centuries. The French were among the first 
translators of them. They took the lead in Oriental 
literature. The English followed; but the first 
translations into our vernacular were very indiffe- 
rent ; but they appear now in a respectable dress. 
These people, described a thousand years ago, are 
the same now, excepting, these Arabs, Persians, 
and Indians, were in their glory then, and in their 
abasement now; but still the elements of their 
character are the same. If they have lost some- 
thing of the glow of literary excitement, they have 
retained the same capacity for producing crea- 
tions of the imagination, and the same love for the 
romantic. Men whose lives and property are con- 
stantly dependent on the will of their superiors, 
wander into ideal worlds, and draw happiness, 
or at least pleasure, from their own creations. 
The descriptions of the deserts, of the caravans, 
and caravansaries, in these tales are exact, only 
we must call to mind that it was the palmy state 
of " Araby the blest" when they were written, 
which is now in a state of great degradation. The 
49 



386 rapelje's narrative. 

changes all over this cradle of the world have 
been astounding. While in Tyre and Sidon I 
could not refrain from again returning to the Scrip- 
tures, twenty-third chapter of Isaiah, from the 
first to the eleventh verse, which so distinctly 
foretold the downfall of these marts of nations. 
This denunciation of the great prophet Isaiah is a 
sublime specimen of eloquence and of prophecy : 

" The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tar- 
shish ; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, 
no entering in : from the land of Chittim it is re- 
vealed to them. 

" Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle ; thou whom 
the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, 
have replenished. 

" And by great waters the seed of Sihor, the 
harvest of the river, is her revenue ; and she is 
a mart of nations. 

" Be thou ashamed, O Zidon : for the sea hath 
spoken, even the strength of the sea, saying, I tra- 
vail not, nor bring forth children, neither do I 
nourish up young men, nor bring up virgins. 

" As at the report concerning Egypt, so shall 
they be sorely pained at the report of Tyre. 

" Pass ye over to Tarshish ; howl, ye inhabi- 
tants of the isle. 

" Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of 
ancient days ? her own feet shall carry her afar 
off to sojourn. 

" Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, 



rapelje's narrative. 387 

the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, 
whose traffickers are the honorable of the earth 7 

" The Lord of hosts hath purposed it, to stain 
the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt 
all the honorable of the earth. 

" Pass through thy land as a river, O daugh- 
ter of Tarshish : there is no more strength. 

" He stretched out his hand over the sea, he 
shook the kingdoms : the Lord hath given a com- 
mandment against the merchant-city, to destroy 
the strong holds thereof" 

A beguiled traveller is a fool ; but, I believe, 
that the more one sees, and examines, the more 
distinctly will he come to the conclusion, that God 
has often vouchsafed a partial revelation to man 
in ancient times, if he sees no necessity for it now. 
Tyre and Sidon have fulfilled the prophecy. 

Saturday, July 6th. — The Turkish drogoman 
of Mr. Lee came for me to go on board at six in the 
morning. Accompanied by him, my baggage w^as 
not searched at the custom-house. 

Sunday, July 7th. — After getting the pilot on 
board, at seven this morning, with a moderate 
wind, but not fair, we got up the anchor, and set 
sail for Malta. 

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, July 8th, 
9th, and 10th. — We had an unfair wind ; gained 
as yet but little on our course. 

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, July 11th, 
12th, and 13th. — The weather in the middle of 



388 rapelje's narrative. 

the day quite hot, the wind very light, and still 
contrary. 

Sunday, July 14th. — This day closed one vt^eek 
since we sailed from Alexandria, and the vessel 
was not any nearer our destined port of Malta, 
than we were at Alexandria. We had some fresh 
winds, but contrary ones. A good sailing English 
or American vessel would have heat against the 
wind, with the breezes we had, several hundred 
miles ; but this clumsy, heavy laden hulk of a vessel 
could not get through the water more than three 
knots an hour. Patience, patience I found I must 
have, and hoped it would not forsake me. It is the 
badge of all men who trust themselves on the 
waters. 

Monday, and Tuesday, July 15th, and 16th. — 
Still contrary winds ; the vessel gaining very little. 
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and 
Sunday, July 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st.— 
Nothing can be interesting at sea while contrary 
winds prevail, 

Monday, July 22d, and Tuesday, 23d.— We had 
contrary winds, and it was very hot in the middle 
of the day. The sun in setting on Tuesday, exhi- 
bited many curious and remarkable shapes of urns, 
pots, one head with horns, and yet there was not 
a cloud to be seen. This phenomenon has been 
remarked in other places, and philosophers have 
attempted to account for it. 

Wednesday, July 24th. — This morning at day- 



rapelje's narrative. 389 

light we saw the Island of Candia, the Capo de 
Monte, St. Johannes, or St. Jean, and sailed in 
sight of it to the south during the day ; some very 
high lands were in sight ; the tops of the highest 
of them were covered with snow. 

Thursday, July 25th. — We were in sight of 
Candia during the day, about twenty or thirty 
miles distant. It was quite hot. 

Friday, July 26th. — We had contrary, baffling, 
light winds, and sudden changes to calms, and 
now and then a strong gust. We were in sight of 
Candia, the Cape St. John, and also the small 
low Island of Gosa. Candia appeared very hilly 
and broken ground. 

Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, July 27th, 
28th, and 29th. — No thing material happened. We 
had head winds, once for half a day fair, and then 
quite light, turned soon to a calm ; we got on by 
degrees, though slowly. 

Tuesday, July 30th. — A monotony of the same 
unfair northerly wind for two days past, bringing 
a thick f og,which kept the deck and cabin quite 
wet, as if it rained. 

Wednesday, July 31st. — We were getting on 
with a more favorable wind from the northward, 
laying our course about west, and in latitude 
thirty-four degrees, eighteen minutes north ; and 
longitude twenty-two degrees, five minutes east ; 
the weather continued fine, but for two days past 
there has been a heavy mist. 



390 rapelje's narrative. 

Thursday, August 1st. — The living on board is 
like that with most of the Italians. They took 
little for breakfast, a cup of tea and a bit of bis- 
cuit, a little cheese, or Bologna sausages. The 
sailors have wine, cheese, and biscuits served out 
for their breakfast. The dinners are good ; they 
have soup always first, either macaroni or rice, 
or lentiles, often with oil, and with a fowl, then 
boiled salt beef, the fowl sometimes boiled, some- 
times fricasseed, with onions, and often with cu- 
cumbers or the egg plant, as long as they lasted ; 
sometimes the inside of the cucumbers and plants 
were stuffed with puddings, and they always had 
a few raisins in the stuffing ; and afterwards a dish 
called polenta^ made of Indian meal, mixed with 
eggs, boiled thin, rolled out and cut in diamond 
shapes, about an inch and a half wide, and two 
and a half inches long, and three quarters of an 
inch thick, and fried brown, either in oil or butter ; 
also, sometimes another dish of thin small round 
fritters, made of eggs and flour, and two or three 
raisins in the middle of each one ; for supper no 
soup, but some dishes the same as are made for 
dinner. They have always wine with dinner and 
supper, with cheese and dates after as a dessert. 

Friday, August 2d. — The whole crew as well 
as captain were Roman Catholics, and every Fri- 
day they ate beans or lentiles, or rice boiled in 
soup, and they add salt fish, bread, and wine, but 
no meat; a chicken was dressed for me. The 



rapelje's narrative. 391 

rising and setting of the sun in those seas is most 
magnificent, with air so clear and pure, with that 
beautiful azure sky, so peculiar to this Eastern 
World. 

Saturday, August 3d. — At three this morning 
there was an eclipse of the moon, which, as I slept 
on deck, I saw ; and being near the coast of Africa, 
though invisible to Europe and America. There 
was nothing material occurred, but the wind get- 
ting a little better ; the day very hot. 

Sunday, August 4th. — The wind was light 
most of the day. The weather was cool, and we 
laid our course near for Malta ; we were then 
about a hundred and twenty miles from it. 

Monday, August 5th. — We got a fair wind but 
very light, and were going for a few hours at the 
rate of four and four and a half miles an hour. 

Tuesday, August 6th, and Wednesday, 7th. — 
The weather was very hot during the day, with 
frequent calms, and light southerly and westerly 
winds ; the cabin was truly suflfocating ; the ves- 
sel was old and smelt offensively. I slept every 
night on deck, and was constantly wet with heavy 
dews. The brig was loaded with lentiles and 
wheat. An immense number of small black bugs 
were constantly creeping on me. I saw a joyous 
sight, the land at half-past eight on this Wednes- 
day, after a thirty-two days' voyage from Alexan- 
dria. 

Thursday, August 8th. — We were mistaken in 



392 rapelje's narrative. 

the island seen yesterday morning ; we mistook a 
small island for Malta in the same latitude, called 
Linosa, about sixty or seventy miles from it ; we 
had miscalculated our longitude. This morning 
about five we saw Malta, but had a contrary wind 
all day, and were obliged to beat for it. 

Friday, August 9th. — ^The vessel still on her 
tacks, with contrary winds. We saw Malta, but 
owing to the wind, gained but little. 

Saturday, August 10th. — A heavy, strong gale 
blew all day right against us. The brig was 
twenty years old ; and when the wind was high 
she pitched greatly, shipping seas, and leaking. It 
took five minutes every morning, and five minutes 
every evening, to pump her out. 

Sunday, August 11th. — This morning, early, a 
light breeze, and fair, sprung up ; and, being about 
eight or ten miles from Malta, got on slowly ; when 
at the entrance of the harbor, fourteen boats, with 
from four to six men in each, towed us into the 
quarantine harbor, and we anchored at ten 
o'clock. It being Sabbath, I staid on board all 
day. 

Monday, August 12th. — I was going into the 
Lazaretto, to perform my quarantine of twenty 
days, and to take new clothes from shore, leaving 
all my old clothes and baggage to perform the 
purpose, but found an English ship, the Nancy, 
Capt. Brooks, just from Alexandria, which arrived 
this morning, going to London. She was a quick 



rapelje's narrative. 593 

sailer. I agreed to go with her, and to pay him 
twenty-five guineas for my passage. He did not 
intend to perform quarantine, and was only de- 
layed a few days to get out some cargo to stop a 
leak. I paid Capt. Cossaco his forty dollars for 
my passage from Alexandria, and sent a letter up 
to Mr. Bell to forward to Mrs. Rapelje. I went to 
the quarantine ground, and saw Mr. Paul Emond, 
who was very civil, and had clothes prepared to 
lend me, expecting I should perform my quaran- 
tine. At quarantine all is very particular. Two 
guards are constantly on board ; and one always 
goes to the Lazaretto, or quarantine ground, with 
every passenger. 

Tuesday, August 13th. — Here I had plenty of 
excellent fruit of all kinds ; grapes, figs, plums, 
nectarines, peaches, pears, apples, melons, &c., 
in great perfection, from the Island of Gozo, the 
former famed Island of Calypso ; and noted for 
the adventures of Telemachus, about seventeen 
miles off; here are fine meats, from Barbary; 
also the noted small bird, called Beca Figa, or 
fig-sucker. The bones of the bird are so tender 
that they are chewed as the meat, which is of 
delightful flavor. 

Wednesday, August 14th. — I went to the qua- 
rantine, and saw Mr. Paul Emond, the vice Ame- 
rican consul, who was civil, attentive, and ofi'ered 
his services to me. 

Thursday, August 15th, and P'riday, 16th. — No- 
50 



394 rapelje's narrative. 

thing material on these two days. On Friday 
Mr. Fisk, and Mr. Temple, clergymen, missionaries 
from Boston, in America, called at the Lazaretto 
to pay me a visit. I went there from the brig, and 
had some conversation with them. They were 
going in the ensuing winter to Syria. They of 
the island are very severe and strict in their qua- 
rantine laws. In one of the vessels at quarantine, 
some person was trying to catch fish, and the sen- 
try from shore fired his musket at him. This was, 
they say, a regulation of General Maitland's, not to 
permit any one to fish in the quarantine grounds ; 
and he was very much disliked by the Maltese in- 
habitants, and also by the English. The Island of 
Malta (the ancient Melita) possessed, through a 
succession of ages, a greater degree of fame and 
power than any place of its size on the face of the 
globe. It is sixty miles from Sicily, and about 
two hundred from the nearest shore of Africa. It 
is separated from the Island of Gozo by a strait 
three or four miles wide. The population of Mal- 
ta and Gozo, at one period of their history, was 
very great, considering their small extent of terri- 
tory. The Maltese are made up of all nations, 
from Europe, Asia, and Africa. Their language 
is a base mixture of numerous tongues. There 
is but one small stream in the island, the water of 
which is conducted by a noble aqueduct, seven or 
eight miles in length, to Valetta. The climate 
w^ould be hot if it was not moderated by sea 



rapelje's narrative. 395 

breezes. The produce of the island is cotton, prin- 
cipally, but finer melons are not to be found in the 
world, than are raised here. The city of Valetta 
was founded about the middle of the sixteenth 
century, by Jean Parisat de Levalette, the forty- 
eighth Grand Master, an active, wise, and splen- 
did officer, whose resources in war were truly 
astonishing. He defended Malta against Solyman 
II. who attacked it with a force of eighty thousand 
men, and, after a siege of several months, was 
obliged to retire with immense loss. The Grand 
Master was considered as a sovereign prince, and 
sent his ambassadors to several courts of Europe. 
The fortifications on this island are remarkable 
for their strength. One thousand pieces of can- 
non are mounted on the walls. This island was 
given by Charles to the knights of St. John, who 
had been driven from Rhodes by the Turks. The 
knights fortified, and defied the whole world to 
take it. The history of this island, and that of 
these brave knights, would make a volume as full 
of romance as any of the creations of the imagina- 
tion. Many writers have given us some sketches 
of this island and its inhabitants. 

Saturday, August 17th. — Nothing material. 

Sunday, August 18th. — The weather was warm. 

Monday, August 19th. — I wrote a letter to 
the Honorable C. C. Golden, and went on board 
the ship Nancy, Capt. Brooks, for London. 

Tuesday, August 20th. — Sailed out of quaran- 



396 rapelje's narrative. 

tine, at about three o'clock. The passengers were 
Mrs. Richardson, an English lady, Capt. Miles, 
and Mr. Brenner, an English captain of a vessel, 
a Scotchman. We had a light fair wind. 

Wednesday, August 21st. — Almost the whole 
day a calm ; but last evening we got off as far as 
St. Paul's harbor, where the apostle was cast 
away. Near it is the Island of Gozo, which we 
were near all day ; and is said, as I have observed, 
to be the ancient fabulous Island of Calypso, fa- 
mous for the adventures of Telemachus and Men- 
tor. I saw the cliffed rock, being a point, quite 
high, and projecting into the sea, where I suppose 
they threw themselves off to go to the ship. The 
weather was very hot. 

Thursday, August 22d. — We got on very lit- 
tle ; the wind light, and contrary. We were in 
sight of Sicily for most of the day. 

Friday, August 23d. — We had light wind and 
calms. 

Saturday, August 24th. — We passed wath a 
light fair wind Sciaca and Mazzara. 

Sunday, August 25th. — Last night a shower of 
rain, with some lightning and thunder ; and to-day 
saw Marsalla, a town on the easterly part of Sici- 
ly. We passed close by the Islands of Maretina 
and Faliomana. The weather during the day was 
excessively hot. 

Monday, August 26th. — We got a fair wind, 
but it did not last long. 



rapelje's narrative. 397 

Tuesday, August 27th. — It blew a hard gale 
all day, and contrary. We saw the small Island 
of Galeta, a few miles from the Barbary coast. 

Wednesday, August 28th. — It was calm, and 
very hot, during the most of the day. 

Thursday, August 29th. — The wind came on 
gradually fair, and we saw the Island of Sardinia 
but a short distance from us. 

Friday, August 30th. — We had light winds, 
and then a calm. 

Saturday, August 31st. — A continuation of 
calm and light wind, trifling rain, and very hot 
weather. We saw the land on the Barbary 
coast called Cape Ferro. 

Sunday and Monday, September 1st and 2d. — 
There was nothing particular happened. Some- 
times we had a calm, sometimes high winds. 

Tuesday, September 3d. — All last night the 
ship rolled very much; but to-day we saw the 
city of Algiers, and the Barbary coast. It was 
high land. We were proceeding on with a fair 
wind. 

Wednesday, September 4th. — The wind con- 
tinued fair ; we sailed along the coast of Bar- 
bary quite plainly. The land appeared high and 
broken. 

Thursday, September 5th. — The wind continu- 
ed fair with a fine breeze ; we sailed from six to 
seven knots and a half an hour, the whole day. 
Friday, September 6th. — This morning was 



398 rapelje's narrative. 

quite a calm, and we were about a hundred miles 
from Gibraltar. 

Saturday, September 7th. — The wind was 
light and near a calm. We saw several turtles on 
the surface of the water ; the crew got out the 
boat and caught three of them with their hands ; 
the turtles were sleeping on the water; two of 
them had birds on their backs, which flew away 
as our sailors approached them. The small- 
est of these turtles weighed fifteen pounds, the 
largest fifty. We were now in sight of Gibraltar 
Rock. 

Sunday, September 8th. — We got on last night 
with a fair breeze, and this morning found we 
were several miles past the rock ; but owing to the 
contrary wind and strong current, we put back 
and went into Gibraltar harbor or bay, and an- 
chored about one o'clock to wait for a fair wind. 
On board our vessel were sheep, fowls, ducks, 
chickens, geese, pigeons, pigs, dogs, and cats, mo- 
ving about on deck, and were also crowded with 
boxes of citron trees, which made the vessel 
appear like Noah's ark. 

Monday, September 9th. — We got off some 
wine, peaches, grapes, apples, and other provisions. 
The grapes were uncommonly fine, the best white 
oval grapes I ever tasted. There appeared many 
fine liouses with gardens, and walks, in the old 
and new town. The barracks in the new town 
facing the bay, and extending to the Mole, are 



rapelje's narrative. 399 

very extensive, regular, and handsome buildings. 
The fortifications are many of them close along 
the water, and on the west side of the island, in 
front of the new and old town. 

Gibraltar is a strong fortress ; it lies at the en- 
trance from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean Sea. 
It was in the hands of the Arabians until taken 
from them by Ferdinand, King of Castile, in 1302. 
Thirty-one years afterwards it was retaken by 
the Arabs, who held it an hundred and thirty 
years. In 1704, this fortress came into the hands 
of the English, who have retained it ever since, 
although many desperate attempts have been 
made to deprive them of it. In the harbor at 
anchor, were the American frigate Constitution, 
Commodore Jones, the sloop-of-war Ontario, and 
schooner Nonesuch. I sent letters to New-York 
and Paris. 

We got under sail, with a light wind, and fair 
from south-east at one o'clock ; with an increasing 
fair wind, passed in high style through the Gibral- 
tar Straits, and were soon out of sight of the Rock, 
and passed Tarifftown and the point, on which 
there was a light-house. The land on the Euro- 
pean, as well as tlie African side, appeared high, 
broken mountains, and volcanic. Through the 
Strait was a strong current, always setting in from 
the Atlantic to the Mediterranean ; but it is sup- 
posed that underneath, tliere is a counter current 
outwards. There are eddies along the small bay 



400 rapelje's narrative. 

and inlets. We passed at six, the Cape and Bay 
of Trafalgar, where the memorable victory of 
Nelson, over the French and Spanish, took place. 
It was a great fight, but not in my opinion equal 
to that of the Nile. During the night we passed 
the bay and city of Cadiz. The water, as we got 
into the Atlantic Ocean, was much greener than 
the Mediterranean, which appeared a dark blue, 
and in some places almost black. 

Tuesday, September 10th. — We had, during 
last night and to-day, a fine fair wind, and passed 
the Bay of Cadiz, and also Cape St. Vincent. 

Wednesday, September 11th. — Contrary wind. 

Thursday, September 12th. — We tacked ship 
this morning on to the starboard. 

Friday, September 13th. — We had light winds, 
not fair, and made little progress. 

Saturday, September 14th. — The wind more 
favorable, we passed St. Ubes ; saw the land of 
Lisbon ; passed Spain ; the weather fine, cool, and 
pleasant. 

Sunday, September 15th. — The wind was con- 
trary, and we got on but slowly. 

Monday, September 16th. — The same as yes- 
terday. 

Tuesday, September 17th. — Heavy, strong 
gales from the north and east ; we got on slowly ; 
it was quite cold and chilly. 

Wednesday, September 18th. — This morning a 
little before daylight, we were oft' Oporto ; at light, 



rapelje's narrative. 401 

one of the passengers, Capt. Miles, said he saw the 
land ; heard the sea roar on the shore, and in fact 
we were so close, that if we had kept on half an 
hour more, we should have been ashore. At one 
o'clock, we got a fair strong wind. 

Thursday, September 19th. — The wind last 
night was about south-west. At about nine or ten 
o'clock it began to blow a heavy gale ; the sea 
beating with such severe thumps against the stern 
quarters and dead-lights, that one of the passen- 
gers, an old seaman, Capt. Miles, thought it would 
beat and batter them in. Finding no sail set, nor 
any one he could see on deck, he twice desired the 
captain to get up and set some sail on his ship, tell- 
ing him at the time, that it was the most lubberly, 
unseaman-like behavior he ever knew, to let the 
ship lay in the trough of the sea, thumping about, 
and the water driving in the stern quarters, so as 
to wet the beds of the passengers, and not a bit of 
sail set. The captain got up quickly, and came 
out of his state-room in the cabin, at the same mo- 
ment bringing a pair of large horse pistols, with 
powder-horn, and balls, and, as hard as his hands 
would let him, thumped them down on the table, 
saying that they would settle accounts. He then 
asked the other passenger to load them. There 
was a lady in the cabin ; the other passenger and 
myself begged the disputants to go on deck, but 
they would not. Capt. Miles took one pistol, and 
51 



402 RAPELJS'S NARRATIVE. 

finding it not loaded, was going to batter the but- 
end about the captain's head, but we begged him 
to desist. He then secured the pistols in his trunk, 
and told the captain that by heavens he should 
not sleep, when he thought, as he then did, that all 
our lives were in danger. The lady got into faint- 
ing and convulsions, which put an end to the fracas, 
and the captain went on deck, and attended to his 
ship. The sails and whole rigging were wretched ; 
men are sent to sea often unprepared, and more 
frequently do not know what to do in an emer- 
gency. 

Friday, September 20th. — The wind was quite 
fair on the larboard quarter. 

Saturday, September 21st. — Fine fair gale at 
west, going about six knots, a north-east course, 
across the Bay of Biscay. 

Sunday, September 22d. — We had almost a 
calm ; during last night and to-day, made little 
headway. 

Monday, September 23d. — During part of the 
night, and this morning, a fine, fair, six-knot 
breeze, considerable rain, and oppressive, muggy 
weather. 

Tuesday, September 24th. — We got into sound- 
ings this morning, in ninety fathoms, off the mouth 
of the English Channel. The wind was variable, 
now about north-north-west. 

Wednesday, September 25th. — A tolerable 



rapelje's narrative. 403 

breeze all day, going north-north-east, the ship 
Avith not so much motion when we got into the 
English Channel. 

Thursday, September 26th. — The lady passen- 
ger, Mrs. Richardson, who had been dreadfully 
afflicted with the head-ache, was somewhat better 
to-day. She got up, and I found her, as I had all 
the passage, quite agreeable and sensible, with an 
amiable disposition. She was handsome, and 
cheerful, and, when well, she added much to be- 
guile the tedious hours at sea. She cheered us all 
up ; indeed, men are but poor creatures without 
the society of ladies. 

Friday, September 27th. — We were beating 
to windward in the mouth of the channel, with 
head winds, going slowly. 

Saturday, September 28th. — I saw the land 
very plainly ; but we had a contrary wind. I 
amused myself playing back-gammon and cards 
with the captain and passengers. 

Sunday, September 29th. — We were passing 
the Eddystone Light-house off Plymouth. 

Monday, September 30th. — We were standing 
to the northward in the bay, not far from the 
town of Portland ; and at three, p. m. we were 
close into the town of Bridgeport, a neat, small 
town, and, to appearance, in a valley, with fine 
cultivated lands around it. 

Tuesday, October 1st. — We had a contrary 
wind, and so high that we lost ground to-day. 



404 

Wednesday, October 2d. — A light wind during 
the night. 

Thursday, October 3d. — We passed the Isle of 
Wight, and Southampton, and Plymouth, last 
night, and to-day Chichester, Arundel, and Bright- 
helmstone. 

Friday, October 4th. — We passed Dungeness 
Point this morning, on which there is a light- 
house. We entered and sailed through the Straits 
of Dover, close along the English side ; saw^ the 
town of Dover ; and opposite is the French coast 
at Calais. A pilot came on board this morning, at 
about eight, when we were opposite Folkestone. 
The country all along this shore is beautiful and 
well cultivated. There are many fine green fields. 

Saturday, October 5th. — We got under weigh 
this morning at eight ; saw the Old Royal Yacht, 
called the Royal Sovereign, pass us, with some of 
the royal family, from Antwerp. The pilot, Mr. 
Bowles, told us it was the Duke and Duchess of 
Clarence. We had a fine view of the ladies on deck, 
under a handsome crimson canopy. The Duke 
was walking the quarter-deck with several others. 
They were in a beautiful ship-rigged vessel, with 
an elegant royal standard at her mast-head, which 
was very handsome, and is only hoisted when any 
of the royal family are on board. The vessel was 
ornamented all around with heavy borderings 
of gold, especially her bow and stern ; and alto- 
gether she was a beautiful vessel. She sails quite 



rapelje's narrative. 405 

fast. She passed us as if we were standing still. 
We lowered the main-royal sail, as a mark of re- 
spect, when she passed. 

We came in the afternoon past Sheerness, where 
is a large dock-yard, and harbor, and saw many 
new and old men-of-war laid up, and covered over. 

Sunday, October 6th. — This morning the doc- 
tor of the quarantine harbor came along side, as it 
is customary, and made inquiries of the health of 
the crew, and passengers ; and, in the evening, a 
guardian, or officer of inspection, came on board to 
examine the state of the cargo, to see if there were 
any suspected articles. 

Monday, October 7th. — We were in great 
anxiety to know if we would be liberated from 
quarantine. 

Tuesday, October 8th. — This morning another 
guardian, and officer of inspection, Mr. Watson, 
came on board. Our detention was owing to two 
packages, or cases, that were united in the mani- 
fest, mentioned " contents unknown," being two 
small cases one of the passengers, a Scotchman, 
had taken on board for his friend in London, 
these being suspicious articles. These inspectors 
were sent on board to examine them, fearful they 
might be infectious; and we were fearful they 
would make us perform a long quarantine for this 
piece of inadvertency. 

Wednesday, October 9th. — In the same situa- 
tion. 



406 rapelje's narrative. 

Thursday, October 10th. — We were quite dis- 
appointed in not being released from quara,ntine. 
The captain's bill of health, it seems, was not a 
clean bill from Alexandria ; and, in consequence, 
it was uncertain how long we should have to re- 
main. 

Friday, October 11th, and Saturday, 12th. — 
On the latter day, got orders from a Mr. Dixon, 
one of the superintendent officers of quarantine, 
that we must remain fifteen days, which made it 
up to twenty before we were liberated. 

We remained in quarantine until Sunday, Oc- 
tober 20th. At two o'clock this day, Mr. Dixon, 
a quarantine officer, came on board, and libera- 
ted the ship. The three passengers, Mrs. Richard- 
son, Mr. Hugh Bremmer, and Capt. Miles, went 
in a small cutter to Rochester, up the river Med- 
way. I remained in the ship, which immediately 
got under weigh, and proceeded onward ; passed 
Sheerness, and the Foreland, and up the river 
Thames, for London. Night coming on, and a 
contrary wind blowing, we anchored in the 
river half way to Gravesend. Among the number 
of new ships lying at Sheerness, I saw the Howe 
and Trafalgar ; one, one hundred and ten, the other 
one hundred and twenty guns. 

Monday, October 21st. — On account of the 
wind and tide being against us, we did not get 
under weigh till eleven o'clock, when we came up 
the river Thames, opposite to Gravesend. The 



rapelje's narrative. 407 

alien-office boat came to the vessel, and obliged 
me, as a foreigner, to go with them on board a 
vessel anchored off, where my baggage was 
searched. I was then taken ashore to the alien- 
office, at Gravesend, where I obtained a passport. 
I immediately went to the Prince of Orange Hotel, 
where the coaches stop, took an inside passage, 
and got to London, twenty-two miles from Graves- 
end, at nine, and put up at the New- York Cojfifee- 
house. I went through Dartmouth, Deptford, 
and Woolwich, where were handsome and exten- 
sive barracks ; also through Blackheath and 
Greenwich. 

Tuesday, October 22d. — I remained in Lon- 
don to-day, and received a number of letters from 
New-York, forwarded from Cork and Liverpool, 
one from Mr. Jacob Marsh, inclosing them, and one 
from Messrs. Thomas and William Earle & Co. 
inclosing others from Mr. E. D. and David Golden, 
and a number from Mrs. Rapelje. I paid Mr. J. 
Vaughan a visit, and inquired for New-Yorkers at 
the coffee-house, but found none. I was engaged 
all day in reading my letters. 

Wednesday, October 23d. — Last evening at 
eight I started in the mail coach from the Swan 
with Two-Necks, Lad-lane, for Livei'pool to take 
passage in the ship Cortes, Captain De Coste. I 
hastened my departure, as my wife and friends 
urged me to return forthwith. I rode all night 
through Coventry and New-Castle, and in the 



408 rapelje's narrative. 

counties of Stafford, Warwickshire, &c., &c., and 
over a fine road and delightfid country, interspers- 
ed with hills, valleys, canals, and ponds, in every 
direction ; there were highly cultivated farms, 
parks, and gardens, with sheep, horses, and cattle 
in abundance. Bee hives were around the cot- 
tages and gardens. I arrived at Liverpool two 
hundred and seven miles from London in twenty- 
eight hours and a half, being at the rate of more 
than seven miles an hour ; but this is not so fast 
as some mails travel in America. 

Thursday, October 24th. — I w^ent a shopping 
to several places, to get articles of linen and flan- 
nel to wear on board. I engaged my passage with 
Ca]3t. De Coste, of the ship Cortes, to pay him for- 
ty pounds, English, when I arrived at New-York. 
In the evening I went for an hour to the theatre ; 
it is neat and small ; I saw the latter part of Tom 
and Jerry. Miss Hammersley is a pleasant actress, 
and sings finely. The others are but indifferent. 
I wrote a letter to Mr. Mark of Cork, one to Capt. 
Brooks, London, and a note to Messrs. Earle. 

Friday, October 25th. — At six I went on board 
the ship Cortes, Capt. De Coste, for New-York, 
and sailed out with a fair breeze of wind. 

Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, October 26th, 
27th, and 28th. — The wind came rather contrary, 
and we were getting on slowly ; on Sunday evening 
we saw the Tuscora light, a revolving one, making 
a circuit every two minutes. We saw the light 



rapelje's narrative. 409 

about thirty miles off, and expected soon to be out 
of the channel. 

Tuesday, October 29tli. — We got a fine wind 
with rain during the after part of the day. 

Wednesday, October 30th. — It rained most of 
the day, 

Thursday, October 31st. — Dull weather, but 
the passengers on board were genteel, and lived 4 
together harmoniously. 

Friday, Nov^ember 1st. — We had high and con- 
trary winds, with rain during the day. 

Saturday, November 2d. — The wind was blow- 
ing hard, with showers. The passengers endea- 
vored to do all in their power to make each other ' 
happy. The captain, although in appearance, a 
robust, stout man, with a weather-beaten face 
like my own, I found to possess a kind, tender 
heart, and was uncommonly attentive to his ship 
both day and night; obliging and attentive to all 
his passengers. 

Sunday, November 3d. — The wind kept going 
down during the night, and the morning was fine 
and clear. 

Monday and Tuesday, November 4th and 
5th. — The wind was high and contrary ; the ship 
had much motion. 

Wednesday, November 6th. — At eleven or 
twelve last night, the wind from a heavy gale 
against us, came all of a sudden fair, and continued 
52 



410 rapelje's narrative. 

fair during the day; the ship going from six to 
seven knots an hour. 

Thursday, November 7th. — The weather plea- 
sant, and wind ahead to south and west, and light 
during the morning, but increased during the whole 
of the day. 

Friday, November 8th. — Until the middle of 
the night, the wind blew from the south and west, 
and the ship went about nine or ten knots an hour. 
We took in sail during the evening and night; and 
between eleven and twelve it shifted to north-west 
and blew a perfect hurricane, so as to shiver the 
foresail. A man, in handing the sails on the wind- 
fei ward main-yard arm, fell, and was lost overboard ; 
it being very dark, there was no chance to save 
him. The ship was laid too under mizen stay- 
sail and fore-sail, and so continued during this day ; 
^ the gale continuing. 

Saturday, November 9th. — The gale continued, 
and the ship lay to, all day. The wind was con- 
trary and strong. 

Sunday, November lOtli. — The wind was 
ahead, but abated; there was a heavy sea, and 
the ship rolled much during the night. 

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, 11th, 12th, and 
13th. — We had high, contrary winds. Early on 
Monday morning, a sudden squall took the sails, 
and broke in the middle the fore yard-arm ; but 
during the next day we got up a new one. 



rapelje's narrative. 411 

Thursday, November 14tli. — About daylight 
the wind sprung up a strong blow from the north- 
west, and this was the first time in a week that it 
was fair. 

Friday, November 15th. — The wind was not 
very fair. 

Saturday, November 16th. — A high wind 
during the night. Yesterday the maintop-gallant 
yard broke. We had now been out three weeks, 
and had proceeded near half way from Liverpool 
to New- York. — A young lady passenger. Miss 
Harman, was very ill by constant sea-sickness, and 
spasms. 

Sunday, November 17th. — We had fine wea- 
ther, the ship going a tolerable course of west- 
by-south. 

Monday, 18th, Tuesday, 19th. — Nothing ma- 
terial. 

Wednesday, November 20th. — A fair wind, 
going eight and nine knots an hour. 

Thursday, November 21st. — Wind ahead during 
the night, and we shipped many seas, and pitched 
and rolled at a great rate. 

Friday, November 22d. — The weather was 
quite mild during the night, and very warm. The 
passengers were all pleasant to each other, show- 
ing a spirit of mutual accommodation and civility; 
and we amused ourselves with difl'erent games at 
cards, at whist, cassino, cribbage, &c.; back-gam- 
mon, draughts, chess, &c.; reading and walking 



412 rapelje's narrative. 

the deck, when good weather, notwithstanding 
now and then a sea was shipped, and w^e were 
sprinkled, some of us, even to the skin. We are 
about eleven hundred and fifty miles from New- 
York. 

Saturday, November 23d. — We had all night, 
and this day, heavy gales, with squalls of rain ; 
the wind about west, and we making a steady 
course of north-north-west. 

Sunday, November 24th. — High winds, ship- 
ping many heavy seas. We were making a 
north-west course. 

Monday, November 25th. — The wind blew 
almost a hurricane during the night, attended with 
lightning and rain, the vessel rolling and pitching 
very much to our annoyance at table. 

Tuesday, November 26th. — We had high 
winds. 

Wednesday, November 27th. — There was last 
night a perfect hurricane from the north-west, with 
rain and lightning. But few slept, on account of 
the rolling and pitching of tlie ship; but to-day the 
wind was fair, and more moderate. 

Thursday, November 28th. — We had a fair 
wind from the north-east ; course north-west, for 
the last twenty-four hours, during which time we 
sailed about a hundred and fifty miles, from six to 
seven miles an hour. It was a pleasant day. 

Friday, November 29th. — We had a good 
southerly and easterly wind all last night, and 



rapelje's narrative. 413 

to-day, which sent us along at the rate of from 
seven to nine knots an hour. The morning was 
clear, and the weather warm. Tlie passengers and 
crew were well, and in good spirits. This was 
now just four weeks since the ship sailed from 
Liverpool, and the only really fair wind we have 
had. It lasted only two days. The ship has little 
motion, the sea almost as smooth as a mill-pond. 

Saturday, November 30th. — This being St. 
Andrew's day, and there being several Scotch 
gentlemen on board, belonging to the society of 
that name, we celebrated the day. The captain . 
had the table sumptuously furnished on the occa- 
sion with real turtle soup, fine salmon, that were 
preserved, and as fine as if just caught. At lunch 
there was a collation of rich cake, made on board, 
and which looked as if just out of the hands of a ' 
confectioner ; also a fine dessert, as puddings, 
tarts, preserves, fruits, and nuts, &c., properly 
served, also choice white and red wines, with 
champagne. The day was spent with much hilar- 
ity and good humor. There were a number of ap- 
propriate toasts, songs, and glees. The table was 
honored by the presence of the ladies on board ; 
and Mrs. Kerr, with her usual goodness of heart, 
furnislied the Scotch gentlemen with St. Andrew's . 
ensignia of the cross, handsomely ornamented. 
The weather favored us, the sea was smooth, and 
there was a fair breeze driving us gently on as we 
honored the birth-day. 



414 



RAPELJE S NARRATIVE. 



Sunday, December 1st. — We had the same 
misty weather. 

Monday, December 2d. — It cleared up in the 
night, and the wind north-west. The weather 
much colder, and the wind was not fair. 

Tuesday, December 3d. — We had a high wind 
from the north, south, and east, and we were scud- 
ding under very easy sail all day. 

Wednesday, December 4th. — We had rain and 
head winds all day. 

Thursday, December 5th. — The wind was 
ahead, and it was quite cold. We got to sound- 
ings in ninety fathoms of water, off Massachusetts 
Bay and Cape Cod. We supposed the shoals on 
George's Bank about two hundred miles from 
that shore. It was quite cold, so as to make ice 
on the deck. 

Friday, December 6th. — It is now just six 
weeks since we left Liverpool. We had little or 
no wind during the night, and what there was, 
ahead ; but this morning at six, the wind came from 
the north. We took an easterly course. We had 
sleet and snow during the night. 

Saturday, December 7th. — The wind was con- 
trary ; we coasted by tacking all day. 

Sunday, December 8th. — This morning I saw 
land on the Long Island shores, supposed to be 
Southampton ; wind ahead, but fine, clear, cool 
weather. 

Monday, December 9th. — I threw my pen 



uapelje's narrative. 415 

aside, and strained my eye-balls to see my native 
shore. 



" Breathes there a man with soul so dead, 
Who never to himself has said, 
■ This is my own, my native land ! 
Whose heart hath ne'er within him burn'd, 
As home his footsteps he hath turned, 
From wandering on a foreign strand V " 

After receiving the congratulations of my fami- 
ly and friends on my safe arrival after all my wan- 
derings and hair-breadth escapes, and they had not 
been a few ; indeed at times I had been given up 
for dead by many of my friends in this country. I 
began to look around my native city, which had 
increased most marvelously in ray absence. This 
absence seemed a long exile to me, and one which 
I could not have borne if it had not been volun- 
tary ; although, in fact, the time was short for the 
extent of my rovings. On a survey of the city I 
found the speculator and the mechanic had been 
busy. Old buildings had given place to new ones ; 
vacant lots had been covered with fine houses ; 
new streets had been cut, and narrow ones widened 
for the convenience of the public, if the expenses 
fell unjustly on some individuals. The lands I 
left a farm had become house lots, and that ground 
which had been purchased by the acre, now sold 
readily by the square foot. On inquiry, I found 
the state had been equally prosperous, and the 
United States generally. It would be no easy 



416 

matter to make enlightened England believe that 
we had in this young country, more than fifty col- 
leges; that millions were paid every year for the 
education of the common classes of society, and 
that the rich were obliged to pay according to 
their wealth for all this, and to receive in turn the 
protection of the citizen soldier in case of invasion ; 
and as for the rest of Europe, they would rank such 
a story among the annals of the fabulous ages. 

On my return I found my farm in Westchester 
a favorite residence ; and I believe it is true to the 
nature of man, that the more he travels, the more 
decidedly he places his happiness in retirement, at 
least in his own imagination, if not in habits. I 
have now arrived at that time of life when I can 
no more expect to feel a disposition to encounter 
the dangers of the ocean, or to traverse distant 
countries. I wish prosperity to mankind at large, 
but my most ardent prayers are for my own coun- 
try ; and I have said in my heart, this Republic 
wants nothing but harmony and peace in her 
borders, and a full tide of patriotism in the breasts 
of her citizens, to be the wonder and envy of the 
world. 



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